MILWAUKEE — Drive along Doctor M.L.K. Jr. Drive and you’ll find the first Black- and brown-owned plant shop in the city of Milwaukee.
But as a centerpiece of Milwaukee’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood, Maranta Plant Shop serves a greater purpose beyond just plants.
In the summer of 2021, the plant shop began hosting markets every Saturday for local businesses.
Maranta manager Sinceree Dixon said this goes back to the business’ original goal: to support other Black-and-brown-owned businesses and creators.
With music blasting and people dancing, Dixon said the markets were a way for them to build a sense of community and give local makers more exposure.
“It almost felt like a small block party,” said Dixon of the summer markets.
Now, they’re carrying that energy into the winter months, hosting markets on Sundays inside the shop — complete with free mimosas and hot cocoa.
From crochet pieces to candles, about eight to 12 businesses come out every weekend to sell their unique products.
On one particular Sunday, returning vendors Rhubarb & Ice and Rumaneh Nourish were sharing their products with customers.
For each, the Maranta markets have special meaning in their journey as business owners.
Rhubarb & Ice
But for Rhubarb & Ice, it all started at a dining room table during a power outage in Houston.
Jaide-Monet Davis and her mom, Nathalie Francis sat around the table, wearing hats and coats as they tried to keep warm.
Davis’ mom was teaching her how to make jewelry with copper and brass, something her mom had been doing for years.
“I have always daydreamed. I’ve always been doodling… I knew that was in me already,” said Davis, referring to her mother’s creative jack-of-all trades genes.
That’s why Davis decided to leave her traditional job in community psychology and dive headfirst into creating her own business.
Together, Davis and her mom formed “Rhubarb & Ice.”
They sell one-of-a-kind jewelry made from copper and brass metals, such as bracelets, nose rings, ear cuffs and more. Part of why Davis said she was drawn to these metals was because of their healing properties.
In addition to jewelry, “Rhubarb & Ice” also sells patches and stickers. Occasionally, they also sell food items, like lemonade and other small bites.
“We have a little of a lot,” said Davis.
As far as where the name comes from, Davis said it has to do partially with her grandmother, who used to grow rhubarb in her Milwaukee backyard.
“We wanted to keep our Milwaukee roots in our name,” said city native Davis.
“Ice,” Davis said, is slang for jewelry. The name together represents both the food and jewelry part of the business.
They’ve mostly been selling their products in markets throughout Milwaukee, one of those being Maranta Plant Shop’s markets.
Davis learned about Maranta while she was living in Houston.
“We saw that they were, you know, a people of color, Black-owned, queer-owned, you know, venue that provided small businesses with different opportunities to come events,” said Davis. “The owners had like major swag.”
As a Black and queer creator herself, Davis decided to reach out.
And when she came back to Milwaukee in the summer, she signed up as a vendor for her first market with Maranta. Since then, they’ve done about eight to 10 markets with the plant shop.
Now, they’re also selling pieces at the Riverwest Co-Op and Fischberger’s Variety.
Davis said there have been moments at marketplaces where she has cried because of meaningful customer interactions.
At one market in particular, a lady was trying on one of their check-beaded bracelets. As Davis was checking her out, the lady said, “thank you so much for making this for me.”
“And I like wanted to cry, you know because… that’s kind of how we make things,” said Davis. “We wanted to make people feel as though, ya know, they’ve been gifted. These are things that are specifically for them and ya know, she felt that.”
“That’s the exact reason why we’re doing this,” added Davis.
And for Davis, it’s not only about sharing the love with customers, it’s also about giving back to the community.
Each month since the business started, they’ve been donating a portion of their funds to a shelter, school or community organization to help underserved youth.
You can find Rhubarb & Ice and updates on where they’ll be on Instagram at @rhubarb_and_ice. You can also visit their website.
Rumaneh Nourish skincare
The world of natural skincare sparked Bisan Muna’s interest in 2018.
A friend of hers had invited her to a dōTERRA essential oil party. It was there that Muna purchased a few oils.
That purchase would lead her down a road of experimentation and research on oil mixing. Later, it would lead to the creation of her business, Rumaneh Nourish.
“Ever since then, I got really into it (skincare),” said Muna.
She started off with a few products, gifting them to friends and testing them on herself to see if they were of good quality.
After getting great feedback and getting encouragement from her friends to turn it into something bigger, Muna decided to start her business, Rumaneh Nourish.
Now, she makes all kinds of facial products, such as complexion mists, body oils, lip balms, lip polish, beard oil, aftershave and more. She said a big part of her goal is to make her products inclusive to everyone.
As she’s expanded her products, incorporating her Palestinian roots has also become important to Muna.
“‘Rumaneh’ is the Arabic word for pomegranate, so I did want to incorporate that part of who I am as an Arab Palestinian,” said Muna.
She also started making recycled bookmarks out of hand-sewn Palestinian embroidery to sell alongside her skincare. Collaborating with her mother, Muna collects the embroidery, which is passed down from generations of her family in Palestine.
She said she’s also working on incorporating more of her roots into her oils. Jasmine, she said, is one of the oils used in Palestine that she’s already mixing into her products.
But it’s not only her Palestinian roots that are an inspiration for her products. She also comes from a family of farmers.
“I’ve always been surrounded with hardworking but also like, family that has used the earth and have used what’s naturally out there for us,” said Muna. “That has been a big part of who I want to be and who, you know, I want to live my life as.”
A few years ago, she met Maranta Plant Shop owner Michelle Alfaro while attending another market in Milwaukee. They formed a connection, and Muna followed her on social media. At the time, the plant shop didn’t exist.
Once Muna saw Alfaro had the shop, she said she was amazed. So when the shop started doing markets that were smaller scale and based in the community, Muna signed up.
“These larger markets are great to be a part of business-wise, but I feel like you know, these smaller markets are also powerful, and more so of just the connection… that you can make,” said Muna.
She said initially, doing market events used to make her nervous; she’d worry about what people would say about her product.
But after doing a few and getting positive interactions with customers, she got more comfortable.
“It’s really encouraged me to move forward,” said Muna.
She’s doing it all while working full time in special education, though she said she hopes to one day make Rumaneh her full-time job.
“I’m hoping that my story can be inspirational as well for others that are out there that are still hesitant to kind of put their idea out there,” said Muna.
“Don’t worry about what the outcome is going to be,” she added as advice to fellow makers. “Just do it.”
You can find Rumaneh Nourish products at the GoodLand Home & Goods storefront on Downer Avenue or online. You can also find them on Instagram at @rumaneh_nourish.
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If you’re interested in becoming a vendor at Maranta’s Winter Markets, you can reach out via Instagram direct message or email info@marantaplantshop.com.
Maranta manager Dixon said they rarely turn any maker away.
Editor's Note: Rumaneh Nourish was incorrectly spelled in the initial story. The story has been edited to reflect the correction. (Dec. 27, 2022)