LizzyKate Tea Store Coming to Kirkland

We have some BIG news to share with you! After searching for almost a year, we have landed in a wonderful retail store location in downtown Kirkland. As our local fans know, Kirkland is a cute Seattle suburb located on the northeastern shore of Lake Washington.

With boutique stores, sandwich shops, Pacific Northwest-theme restaurants, bakeries and art galleries, downtown Kirkland is a fun destination for an outing with friends or family. Marina Park is one block from our new location, and from spring through fall, the Wednesday Market and Summer Concert series take place there.

After launching our online store and monthly tea club a year and a half ago, you may be wondering why we're taking the plunge into opening a physical store. Trust us, it was not an easy decision! But here are some of our top reasons:

• we learned a lot from our booths at festivals, holiday bazaars and pop-ups in other stores and realize that specialty tea sells better when people can taste it (it really does taste better than "tea bag" tea)
• people who tried our teas at various events were more likely to buy them and often asked if we have a retail location
• there is a lot of education that goes along with tea, and in a store we can explain in person how to steep different types of tea, offer flights of tea, and hold tea classes.
• we want to be a part of community and a place where friends, tea geeks, tea newbies, and others can stop in for a cup of tea and a break from the craziness of life.

We'll keep you updated with posts on the store progress. Construction won't start for another month or so, but in the meantime, we're busy with design plans, health department regulations, phone and internet systems, bar codes, sign design and more. The plan is to open in mid-June, but with this type of project many items are out of our control and the date could change. Stay tuned and we hope to see you soon!