SISTERS TEA PARLOR & BOUTIQUE
4765 Fox Run Road • Buckner, KY 10010
502-222-6420 • sistersteaparlor.com
Lori Crowe and her mother, Connie Young, understand the healing power of tea. That’s why they decided to open a tearoom inside Connie’s gift shop, Sisters Boutique, in 2007. From the beginning, they had a clear goal. “Everybody who came in to Sisters Tea Parlor & Boutique would be treated like a queen,” Lori says.
“When we first started talking about opening a tea- room, we were probably naïve,” she admits. “We had unrealistic ideas of how it would be.” Turning their dream into reality has required a lot of hard work, and the mother-daughter team has learned many valu
able lessons along the way. The first of these was very simple, Connie says. “People in the Louisville area don’t want to have tea in the afternoon.
They would rather have it for lunch.”
Secondly, Lori says, to ensure that every person who walks through Sisters tearoom’s doors has the same wonderful experience, training and cross-training their employees are essential. Over the years, Connie and Lori have developed written processes for every task in the tearoom. “We have a fabulous staff of 25; we call them our TEAm,” Lori says.
The third lesson, Connie points out, was an important one. “We have to work on the business, not in the business.” If it was going to be a success, they had to accept that they couldn’t do everything themselves. Connie, Lori, and her sister,
Kelly, had to learn to delegate. Today, Connie handles buying for the boutique. Lori is in charge of marketing, menus, and special events. She also keeps a close eye on the baking staff to ensure the food served at Sisters Tea Parlor meets her standards. And sister Kelly is in charge of human resources and oversees the tearoom’s wait staff.
Connie has a longtime dream for the future of Sisters Tea Parlor that dates back to the 1980s. “I have always wanted to build a Victorian shopping center—our own historic street.” This new development would house the tearoom and boutique, as well as other women-focused businesses, and it’s close to becoming a reality. “I want this to be a destination for women,” she says.
“We don’t limit ourselves by the impossible,” Lori says. “We have faith that if we have the vision for it, it is possible.”
From TeaTime September/October 2016
