Frayser and Melissa Micou have acquired the former Roaring Pines space, which will be rebranded as Pomona, a retail garden shop incorporating a food and beverage program. (Photo by Eileen Mellon).
From one Church Hill location to another, Gather Home and Garden is relocating to 2025 Venable St., the former Roaring Pines location, and re-branding as a two-in-one concept called Pomona, a retail garden shop offering food and beverage set to open by mid-August.
A balance between old and new ventures, the store will provide plants and horticulture services, but also continue the legacy of the Roaring Pines beverage program, created by owner Andrew Dayberry, as well as his brooms and Common Good all-natural cleaning supplies.
Gather Home and Garden was founded in 2016 by Melissa Micou, but over the past two years she realized her 400-square-foot space at 2704 E. Marshall St. was restrictive — she couldn’t host workshops or events, and there was no room to sell outdoor plants.
Three-quarters of a mile down the road from Gather, another small, local business was looking for a change as well.
Dayberry ran into Melissa and her husband, Frayser, and mentioned he was looking for someone to take over his space at Roaring Pines so he could focus on making brooms. The Micous seized the opportunity.
“It started to feel fate-driven and even Drew said, ‘I don’t get all gooey and woo-woo about stuff, but I feel like this is meant to be’,” Melissa says. “The three of us realized how much we have in common as far as our goals for what a business can offer a neighborhood beyond retail. I also think it was important that Drew supported the vision of what [the store] was going to turn into.”
Pomona has partnered with Hazel Witch Farm, a recently launched woman-owned farm on Nine Mile Road, to provide herbs and flowers for the shop. The store also will carry native plants from TreeLab.
Frayser, a chef at Perly’s and formerly with The Black Sheep and Stroops, will oversee the beverage program. While Frayser intends to add his own touch to the drink menu, such as a tamarind-Thai basil soda, some Roaring Pines menu items will stick around.
“I think Drew had a very specific thing going on here and there’s some diehards who would murder us if we took things off the menu,” Frayser says jokingly. He plans to keep Baam-Baam, a Creamsicle concoction, along with the egg cream sodas and Blanchard’s coffee.
Shortly after the shop opens, Frayser will bring his culinary background to the forefront and incorporate a menu with small, playful, fresh offerings. The Micous say diners can expect dishes and drinks inspired by other countries and creative spins on classic favorites. The opportunity allows the Micous to focus on their personal passions — food for Frayser, and plants for Melissa.
“Some people are confused with the concept of merging a cafe with a retail side of things but for us it’s an exciting opportunity to combine everything we love doing into one space and everything we’ve spent the past two years learning about, from the food end to the plant end,” says Melissa. “All the pieces fell into place.”
The Micous foresee the space providing an intimate retail experience. They want people to feel encouraged and to hang out, reminiscent of turn-of-the-century apothecaries, which the space used to be.
“We discovered this space was a former apothecary and served as this curative, restorative oasis for people in these hot cities … they would come in and drink the botanical sodas and mineral waters that had healing recharge properties and [our store] totally ties in,” says Melissa, who believes Church Hill still embodies a nostalgia of older times and wants Pomona to offer the same respite.
In trying to connect the past and present spaces, the Micous decided to change their business name to Pomona, a Roman goddess of orchards and gardens.
One day when thinking of possible names, Melissa noticed a piece of art in Gather that a friend had drawn. It featured a woman holding a piece of fruit with a third eye focused on an orange tree.
“We said, 'Wow, Pomona had been there the whole time,' " says Melissa. “She is the protector and overseer of orchards and garden which is pretty perfect — I’m doing the garden side of things and he’s doing the orchard side of things. The universe was leading us in this direction.”
