“We have everything you need to grow anything you want,” is how Steve Epley describes LevelUp Seed and Garden Supply, 408 Riverside Dr., East Peoria. Established in 2021, the store is one of two operated by Steve and Ashley Epley. The other is in Springfield. Both carry a wide range of products, supplies and equipment to help growers of all kinds “level up” to a better, more productive garden.

Steve is quick to point out that Level Up is not your typical garden center or big box store gardening department. “We teach you how to be successful with our products,” he said. They do that by focusing on relationships.

“When you come in the store someone’s going to talk to you and get to know you,” he said. “If you are passionate about plants, we are your store.”

One other difference is the LevelUp specialization in cannabis cultivation and medicinal mushrooms. The store offers everything from special nutrients, soil amendments and grow lights, to monitoring systems and custom-made growing medium for mushrooms. Regular classes are available for people wanting to legally grow cannabis in their home. 

Next month LevelUp will release several cannabis seed varieties that have been specially bred by the Epleys. The Springfield shop will host a Gene Trader Day March 1 from 12 - 6pm.

Steve said mushrooms such as lion’s mane, reishi, and chaga have been known for decades to help with anxiety, control moods, and improve concentration without the side effects of pharmaceuticals. LevelUp makes and sells everything to grow these “gourmet” mushrooms, which are ingested as extracts, in tinctures, and in other forms.

Steve said everything LevelUp sells is legal. However, the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act (known as The CURE Act), which awaits approval in the Illinois General Assembly, would reclassify mushrooms and other natural, organic remedies and make them more readily available as a treatment alternative. He said science has proven the effectiveness of natural medications, they are simply waiting for the law to catch up.

“If done correctly, I think they are safer than conventional medications,” he said. “It’s unbelievable what they are doing in people’s lives.”

The Epleys worked with the Bradley University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to write the initial business plan that allowed them to launch the East Peoria store and then expand to Springfield in 2022. The Springfield store on South 6th Street is the second location in the state capital — the first location proved to be too small after just one year.

They would like to expand further into Bloomington and Champaign, but are now concentrating on managing and growing their current stores.

Steve grew up in East Peoria and graduated from East Peoria High School in 2000. He went on to work as a union carpenter, steamfitter, and pipefitter. But he always “loved growing things” and finally found a way to follow that passion. Ashley is a Mackinaw native (Dee-Mack High School Class of 2004) who works from home as a human resources consultant. They live in Delavan with their two children.

Ashley said knowledge and service are what set LevelUp apart. “We don’t just sell the products, we teach you how to use them.” She said Steve often visits people’s homes and helps them create the ideal growing environment, whether it is indoors or outdoors.

Steve and Ashley are also proud of their community involvement, especially a program with East Peoria High School that allows special needs students to grow organic vegetables that are served in the school cafeteria. He said the student garden yields hundreds of pounds of fresh produce each year for three years.

“We’re just trying to make a little bit of a difference here in the short time we have on this earth,” Steve said.

LevelUp in East Peoria is open daily from 10am to 6pm, and online at levelupgardensupply.com.