An Instagram post last week from our new friend Tanmaya (@hernewyorkedit) got way more attention than we’re used to, and we’re overwhelmed with the love The Brooklyn Teacup has received.
We’ve been flooded with studio visit appointments and have welcomed more shoppers into our studio in the last week than we have in months. Welcoming so many new faces into the studio has served as an important reminder of the core values that have emerged organically from 5 years of building The Brooklyn Teacup:
Family. Friends. Chosen family. Framily? Whatever it is, we’re all about it.
I love that visiting the studio has evolved into an experience that people want to share with people they love. One of the highlights of last week was learning that a daughter had booked an appointment but the visit was a surprise for her Mom! She scurried ahead of me down the stairs to capture her mom’s reaction when she turned the corner and saw a sea of vintage china.
Of course we had groups of girlfriends—and an above average number of men! People young and old, connecting over these magical pieces.
Celebrating moments, big and small.
Last week there were quite a few big milestones that were being celebrated by our customers. There was an upcoming bat mitzvah, a new apartment, a wedding (of course!) and perhaps my favorite moment, a young man picking out the perfect items to create a new “tea time” tradition with his roommate.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, we are big believers in celebrating small things and find the notion of “saving the good china” to be outdated. We encourage our customers to do just the opposite: life is short—go ahead and use the good china.
Some rules were definitely meant to be broken.
Sure, we might know the “proper” way to load a 3-tier tray for afternoon tea—savory tea sandwiches on bottom, scones and jam in the middle—you get the gist. But what really excites us are the myriad ways people have come up with to use 3-tier trays in new ways that fit their lifestyle.
People love to see the 3-tier tray used in our studio as an “elevated charcuterie board,” the perfect way to serve cheese and snacks to friends when the largest surface you have in your apartment might be the coffee table! We had quite a few "risk takers" who created custom tiered trays using square plates, swapping out more traditional plates for shallow bowls and even constructing 4 tiers with teacups on top! Let's just say we’re really looking forward to seeing pics of these trays in use!
Closing thoughts
There are nearly 8.5 million people living in NYC, and 65 million visit every year. Yet it's so easy to feel disconnected. This last week I opened the doors to my studio—and really, my home—to dozens of customers, and none of them felt like strangers. They arrived anticipating what they would find in the secret space with beautiful china. They arrived excited to see the results of my hard work—The Brooklyn Teacup. The overwhelmingly positive feedback I've received has been nothing short of blush-worthy.
It has been such a rewarding experience to see folks interact with the studio and create bonds over this shared niche interest—which, as it turns out, isn't all that niche!
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to say thank you for joining me on this adventure. Thank you for shopping with The Brooklyn Teacup, referring us to friends, trusting us to transform your family heirlooms, and for every last like and comment on social media!
