Two children bounced between couches at Bloom Tea Wellness, all the while talking with their mom, and one another.
Nearby, ear-budded students worked on assignments. Two young women quietly shared their lives.
In Bloom Tea Wellness’ popular community room, multiple generations of a family played a game around a large table.
“This is my favorite place,” said Lucas Holt, 12, between sips and card decisions. Lucas and his family would actually have to leave earlier than planned because of a scheduled “bachelorette-type gathering” in the room, co-owner Brian Anderson said.
Lucas and family will be back. Bloom Tea Wellness has become a cozy, friendly, welcoming environment built around community … and high-quality tea.
“That’s exactly what we were going for,” said Anderson, taking a break with his wife and co-owner Sultana Graham. “We want people to feel warm and cared for. We want it to feel like a cocktail-hour vibe without alcohol.”
“This has never been about making money,” Graham said. “It’s about creating a space that’s inclusive, a safe space, especially for people who may face discrimination, or marginalization.”
The transplants from Washington — he works remotely for a Boston-area software company, while she is a mental health therapist who runs a thriving practice — moved to Oro Valley in mid-pandemic with their children Eli, Avery, and Isaac. They sought sunshine and community. They found both in Oro Valley. But they saw the town needed “a place to hang out,” in Anderson’s words.
“Part of the concept” for Bloom Tea Wellness, Graham said, grew from her recognition, particularly during the pandemic, that so many people are “suffering from loneliness.” Her clients “were just lonely. They needed connection.
“We had the idea to merge a tea shop with a place to go,” she said. “Why don’t we combine? We’re both tea nerds.”
Tea “vibes with our space,” Anderson said. “Sit, stay, spend time, connect.”
“There is something special about tea,” Graham continued. “Tea takes time. No tea comes fast.”
Two years ago, Anderson “called a number in the window” of a never-occupied space near the movie theaters in Oro Valley Marketplace. “There was a slab” in the front of the space, “and the back half was dirt.”
“Oh gosh, we didn’t know anything” about building out and operating a retail business, Graham said. “The first step was finding the right people, and really trusting our guts, and trusting the process, and to stay in alignment with our values.”
They secured financing — “we are just normal people, we had to get loans,” she said — and found contractor James Yarborough of Yarborough Construction. Graham appreciated his “eye for detail.”
“They worked so well together,” Anderson said of Graham and Yarborough.
Anderson and Graham are much the same, complementary and complimentary of one another. “Brian is Mr. Chatter,” Graham said. “He remembers everybody. I’m having fun. I’m not as extroverted as Brian is.”
“We figured out what we like, how we like to live, and how to bring that to others,” Anderson said. “We try to be very intentional.”
Tea is “a big, big world we knew very little about,” Anderson said. The couple attended tea festivals, met other “tea people,” and built a menu based on ethically sourced, fair trade, high-quality loose-leaf teas.
Bloom Tea Wellness’ menu features tea lattes, spritzers, and iced tea, along with light bites — among them, memorable scones from Early Bird Scones — and seasonal drinks. In its next phase, Bloom Tea Wellness hopes to introduce “avocado toast, smoothie bowls, light fare,” Anderson said.
Bloom Tea Wellness’ tea baristas “meet you where you’re at in your tea journey,” he said. Tea Tasting 101, held each Sunday at 11 a.m., presents guests a flight of six different teas so they can explore what they like.
“The reception of the service we give has been awesome,” Anderson said.
And the business has been “awesome for our son,” Eli, now in his “first official on-the-books job,” Anderson said. “He’s great.” Avery and Isaac pitch in, too, washing dishes and cleaning tables when they’re not in school.
Bloom Tea Wellness opened in January. Business has been good. “Sales continue to grow,” Anderson said. “We ran out of teas a couple times.”
Bloom Tea Wellness has “blazing wi-fi” for people looking to complete “that administrative hour” of the work day, he said. Art on the walls is local, and for sale.
Throughout, Graham said, “we have had good experiences.” She points with sentimental pride to tea cups on a shelf, collected for decades by her mom and late grandmother. They’re part of the Bloom Tea Wellness community, too.
The business is “a blast,” Anderson said. “It’s a pretty amazing community.”