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On Monday, the Herb Shoppe celebrated its 10th anniversary. Shop owner Laura Barrera said celebrating 10 years feels like a whirlwind.

“It’s crazy to me, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already,” Barrera said. “It seems like yesterday when we first opened. The last few years have been a blur, but it’s an exciting, huge milestone.”

Initially, Barrera worked at an herb shop in Newnan for seven years before coming to LaGrange to open her own business. During those years, she learned about herbs and how to use them better a person’s health.

Looking toward the future, Barrera said she hopes the shop continues to grow, bring in new products and bring back some classes they’ve offered in the past.

“I’d like to expand the educational options we had before COVID,” Barrera said. “We would try to do monthly classes on different subjects, and we definitely look to bring that back in the new year.”

Barrera said right now, they are making a calendar for next year for what they would like to do, including bringing in some guest speakers.

She said in January the shop will have a guest speaker to talk about CBD, another weeks later speaking about human design, and she also hopes to introduce some classes for children.

In her 10 years of being open, Barrera said the moving to their current location on Ridley Avenue has been the most impactful.

“We were on Bull Street in probably about 400 square feet of space for five years,” Barrera said. “When we moved here, it really changed the shop and in a lot of ways it’s allowed us to expand and offer more things.”

She also said when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the effects of it made an impact on the shop.

“It opened people’s eyes to start taking care of their health more, to quit relying on other people and things to take care of us,” Barrera said. “I think every business owner would say COVID was probably the most impactful thing that’s happened in the last few years for them, but I think more people were able to find us, and it expanded our business in the community more.”

The Herb Shoppe is located at 408 Ridley Avenue and is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

“It’s always it’s a privilege to be there and to help the people in LaGrange with their help,” Barrera said. “I’m honored that they have trusted me and my staff for the last 10 years.”