For today’s installment in our local holiday shopping series, we talk to Pam Robinson, co-owner with husband John of The Spice & Tea Exchange. The shop at 118 Main St. is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.
Here’s a transcription of our conversation.
***
New Canaanite: This is your first shopping season here on Main. How’s it going?
Crazy for Cocoa Sampler at The Spice & Tea Exchange ($19.19). “This is a great gift, especially for a child,” store co-owner Pam Robinson said. Credit: Michael Dinan
Pam Robinson: We have seen a huge pickup the past week, a lot of new customers. We love it. We love the support from the community. And the fact people are telling us they are shopping downtown.
And what are some of the things when people come in that they’re looking for?
They’re looking for tea gift sets already made. So we’ve been featuring our four tin gift sets that we have for herbal teas, blacks and greens. They’re also coming in looking for a lot of grilling sets. We have quite a few options, everything from bottles to just bags. Options galore.
Around the World Gift Box, featuring spice blends from around the world ($50.99). “Everything from Jamaican Jerk to Indian Yellow Curry, we have it all in that one box for you to try,” co-owner Pam Robinson said. Credit: Michael Dinan
You guys are still new on Main Street. What do you tell people about your store? It’s obviously spices and teas here, but there’s a lot more here too.
The one thing we do tell them is they’re getting the highest quality spice blends and teas that you can get, and that our company makes sure that we only sell the highest quality. We also carry a lot of Runamok maple syrups that people really do know. So when people come in, they definitely recognize the name. We do try to keep everything local, as well. So as much of the product we can get from the United States, we do. And people are very happy. They’re excited that we have a tea shop in town again and that we do have the tea bar and they come get a cup of tea while they’re walking around town.
Spice & Tea Exchange Gift Boxes, L-R—”Sweet Sips” (honey straw, infuser in box, five different teas—$40.99) “Tea Temptations” (two herbal teas, two black teas, two green teas, two sugars and an infuser—$59.99) and “An Apple a Day” (tea, sugar, cranberry apple honey—$40.99) gift boxes. “They come with multiple packets of tea along with sugars,” store co-owner Pam Robinson said. Credit: Michael Dinan
In downtown New Canaan we’ve got the garlands up on the lampposts, you’ve got one right outside your door here. You have a tree with the lights, we had the Holiday Stroll a couple of weeks back. What’s it like being in the heart of downtown New Canaan at this time of year as a business?
We love it because we’re seeing everybody from, that’s both in town and from out of town coming, because that’s the one great thing about New Canaan: We have a walkable downtown, and we really do try to make it feel like it’s a home, and it really is for a lot of people. So seeing it look like the beautiful Hallmark that looks it like during the holidays is just fantastic.