BATON ROUGE - For years, Plant World has been a staple in Baton Rouge, but soon the doors will be closed for good.

Gary Chapman Jr. says his parents, Gary and Anne Chapman started Plant World at a location along Florida Boulevard for several years before moving to Greenwell Springs Road in 1977.

"This was their world. This was everything. Especially for my father, and you know he just couldn't imagine life without it," Chapman said.

It's a sentiment shared by many generations of residents here in Baton Rouge.

"Before I started driving, my grandfather used to bring me here, and he and I, me and dad, would come here and look at plants and he would buy seeds, he would buy plants, and i would look everything," longtime Customer Coke Williams said.

Chapman says Plant World is not just a place where people would shop, but a place where people would just stop by to hang out or talk with the owners.

But soon the business will be closing its doors. Ronny Baltazar has been working for the Chapman's for nearly three years.

"Every day it was something different, learned a lot, I mean, we had a lot of different things, I mean, it was more than plants, we had chickens and everything, so it was always a customer in here telling a story about them from when I wasn't working here. It was always something to do; it's still hard to think about," Baltazar said.

On December 18th, Chapman's parents were involved in a car crash along Joor Road in Central.

His father died at the scene, and his mother died a week later.

"When the accident happened, and they're no longer able, we just can't abandon this," Chapman said.

Since the accident, Plant World has been closed, but on Monday, Chapman and his brothers reopened it, giving residents the opportunity to purchase the plants that are left at the business.

"I've already had a career, I've already retired, this is not how I want to spend my retirement," Chapman said.

Chapman says it could be a month or two before Plant World officially closes, as they hope to sell all of the merchandise before closing.

"A chapter has closed, and it's a sad thing for that to happen. When this business closes, there is not another store like this anywhere," he said.

Chapman says if they do not find a buyer for the business, they will liquidate the entire inventory and sell the land.