B.B. Barns — Attraction in Asheville

Oh man you guys; this is long but worth the read!! I had the most wonderful customer experience at B.B. Barns this weekend. I stopped over to get a replacement plant (as I am a serial plant killer) and I had the pleasure of interacting, in great length with Carol, Tess, and Jennifer. I made it a point to speak with the manager to tell him how amazing he, and they are doing. I ran into Kathy first (such a sweet heart herself) and she introduced me to her friend Carol, who proceeded to spend roughly 10-15 minutes walking me all over the store showing me the plants with the best survival rate and offered advice on each one, explaining to me what they would need before I made another bad investment. She even gave me directions to a used book store down the road to purchase some used gardening books. After interacting with her, I moseyed around the store a bit and found another plant I decided to make my victim, and when I went to check out and asked the cashier an exorbitant favor; to replace the pot that several plants were already home to, to a different pot with a drainage hole for better chances of survival. I did not expect this request to me possible at all, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask, right? That's when she introduced me to Tess. I told her exactly what I needed, and even though there were customers waiting, no one was in a rush to go out of their way to try to make me happy. Tess took me to the pot area and as we discussed what I wanted, we both decided to repot the plant in a smaller, cheapo plastic pot, and she gave me a spare one while she took the time to repot my plants for me, so I could look at the the other pots and make sure it fit by sliding it in! (brilliant and helpful). After spending a few minutes trying on the Cinderella Slipper of pots to find one I liked best, and at no additional charge, I found that the pot was just big enough that it didn't quite fit any of them as well. So Tess repriced the plant to exclude the pot, and adjusted the price, which allowed me the budget to buy a pot I loved for my other plant. I swear, she was so happy to help me, I became overwhelmed and TEARED up right there in the pot aisle!! Just the kindness I received, it truly made my day, a different day than it started. Jennifer also assisted me with questions I had about watering a specific plant, and tips and tricks for how to keep them alive i.e. the "chop stick" test, and she kindly repotted a plant for me as well. The manager Brian was also incredibly kind, and the two cashiers I interacted with while I was there as well. Tess even offered for me to reach out if my plant started looking poorly and I needed help, I could email a picture over and get some advice! All in all, I can't express how incredible this was. Everyone there seems to absolutely love their job, and it truly shows. This place is a gem and is worth the time, money, and effort to bypass any ole other gardening store where the service is in my experience, sub par. It was quite a delight, and second to none service. I felt like Pretty Woman when she goes into the RIGHT store. Go to the RIGHT store you guys! ...

EDIT. I did reach out as the response suggested, but mentioned I don’t keep receipts past one year. Got no response. Before I responded, the blooms opened and I used Google photo to find out what in the heck this is, since it is definitely not a lilac. Turns out this is a silky dogwood aka swamp dogwood. So his assertion it was mislabeled is correct. This isn’t a case that the plant didn’t thrive; healthy and 10 feet tall. It was not was I thought I was buying!! It didn’t bloom and I kept being told that was normal. But this is not a showy plant and certainly not the feature plant for the front garden bed. They told me to bring it back with proof of purchase. Don’t know how I’d dig up a 10 foot shrub with 2 bulging discs in my lower back. My only choice is to cut this at the base and kill the stump/roots. As I recall the plant was around $50, so again I state BUYER BEWARE!!

Purchased a lilac from BB Barnes several years ago; getting help from an associate to pick out a large purple blooming species that would thrive in the South. It didn’t bloom until this season. Although healthy and now over 10 feet tall, the booms are finally coming in….WHITE. I am so extremely disappointed. The store said it must have turned back into whatever it was grafted on. Told me I could try to graft my own or dig the massive shrub up and move it. ...

I love shopping at BB Barnes for the quality and selection but lately I have felt the customer service to be disappointing. I purchased a large barrel cactus that I loved in 2020ish and unfortunately it died in 2023. I have stopped by several times and called the store about replacing it and no one seems to have any knowledge about when they may be getting one or how I could order or request one.

I was also in recently to shop for yard plants and noticed how the employees had the whole store prepped for closing 20-30 min before closing time. The doors to enter the garden area were closed and locked. Several employees were standing around with their lunch bags ready to go. It is just odd behavior. Some people work jobs and have to rush to make the store hours so to make them feel awkward for being their 20-30 min before closing is not good business in my opinion.

I also made a point to stop by their spring event recently and many employees were standing around staring and I heard that there was free coffee to try. I go to check it out and of course its empty. There are 1 or 2 great employees there but you have to seek them out while most will avert their...