Le blog de Nestore

Meet the founders of By Charlot

History of the By Charlot brand

By Charlot what is it?

“It is above all a human adventure with two Charles'. The idea was to restore houseplants to their former glory. With the shortest possible circuits and therefore by looking for plants directly from producers. By working pots in the noblest materials possible such as brass and ceramics. And by imposing vinyl labels on the assembled product that are fully customizable online and in store, to offer a fairly unique gift experience to our customers.”

Why did you choose to get started with plants?

“Above all, what we wanted to do with Charles was something around the art of giving. It was very important for us to be able to create a fairly unique experience around the gift. Today, the gift that is given the most is the cut flower. And the plant that we see the most, whether in shops, in people's homes, or in offices, is the plant. So we said that there was something to do. Bringing together the world of plants on the one hand and the gift world on the other.“

Isn't it a bit pretentious to call your company By Charlot when your name is Charles?

“Quite honestly, it would have been a scandal anyway to not do something about our first names, when we are both called Charles. And we liked the name which is quite nice. It can be pejorative. But for us it's pretty nice. And above all, there is a service, personal service and high-end aspect that we are quite attached to for our brand.”

Why did you launch its pop-up store?

“In fact, retail allows us not to reach a different clientele, to reach the same customers, but to reach them in a physical way and especially to be able to offer experiences with a little more flavor than we could do online. And I was talking about collaboration earlier. It will be a good way to be able to express yourself in terms of scenography and to introduce unique collections, capsules, etc...”

“And then we still sell a living product. The plant is a product, it is a living product that is pleasant to see. There is also a whole concept of personalized advice. Above all, our salespeople are the first advisors and ambassadors. And our customers love to spend time in our stores. And in general, they spend 20 minutes choosing a plant and taking care of their gifts down to the smallest detail.

Any plans for the sequel to By Charlot?

We would like to, in fact, it's a short-term project, for By Charlot, it's to have a very local production circuit. And our dream, finally, is to see our plants growing where they are sold. And that's a project we have. We are looking at possibilities and we consider that it is absurd to transport plants when we can have local production. Why not in town? Why not on the roof?

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