A house along Beatties Ford Road in northwest Charlotte was recently renovated and opened as the Pauline Tea-Bar Apothecary.
A portrait of a noble Black woman with her head held high is one of many paintings on the walls. Several plants decorate the bookshelves, with many more in pots scattered in corners on the floor.
Sherry Waters owns the bar. She welcomes people by having them participate in a shop ritual before having a cup of tea.
Guests are invited to pick a cup that brings up a nostalgic or positive moment in their lives, and drink their selected tea from it.
The Pauline Tea-Bar Apothecary offers teas and pastries — and a place for people to unplug. It’s also designed to be an anchor in a mostly Black community that has begun to see a lot of change.
It's named after Waters’ grandmother, Pauline, who was a farmer and herbalist in Lake Lure.
“I really wanted to honor her, and I wanted to honor the way she invited people into her room, living room, or front porch for community, fellowship, and authentic being,” Waters said.
She greeted a pair of UNC Charlotte students who are not fans of coffee — and wanted a calm place to study. James Kim likes how the place makes him feel.
“It’s very cozy. It feels like something, if my parents opened a business, this is what it would look like. It’s not as modern or industrial, which I like,” Kim said.
Dijonay Dawson, 20, sat beside him. She had just lost one of her earrings and was crying about it, but her mood quickly changed once she entered the bar.
“The energy here is just very uplifting,” Dawson said. “I kind of forgot why I was upset; it just feels so homey.”
This is the second Pauline Tea-Bar Apothecary. Nearly five years ago, Waters opened the first one a couple miles away near Wilkinson Boulevard, where apartment buildings are now developing around it. That one has become a popular place to unwind and catch some live music on a Friday evening.
This second location opened in January. It occupies a yellow house at the corner of Beatties Ford Road and Oaklawn Avenue, a few blocks north of the rapidly changing area around Johnson C. Smith University.
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The new tea bar is part of Historic West End Partners’ “Thrive” revitalization to preserve and attract Black-owned businesses like hers to the area.
“This is a community that's still progressing and growing, and a lot of the businesses in this community are Black-owned,” Waters said.
As more development moves north on Beatties Ford Road, Waters hopes the tea bar will attract longtime residents of neighboring communities, and be a place where everyone can relax and unwind.
“We want people to feel peace. We want people to feel calm and to exhale when they walk in,” Waters said. “We know we are getting it right when they walk in and just breathe and go, ‘Wow! This is nice.’”
A handful of people gathered at the bar on a recent evening for a yoga session. It’s one of the ways Waters hopes to attract people from the surrounding neighborhoods and other parts of the city, too.
Collins Cornwell wrapped up a series of yoga stretches. He lives in South End and is a faculty member at Winthrop University.
“When you're just going through the day working and going through the routine, sometimes you forget to be in tune with your body and how it is feeling,” Cornwell said. “So, this was a good opportunity for me to realign my mind, my body, and my soul.”
After the session, people mingle, holding cups of tea. Cornwell calls that time for community "the cherry on top" of a great experience.
