Her majesty came a little late
onto the scene, but that hasn’t stopped her from
staking her claim to royalty.
The shop was actually opened
by Susan Ponville on June 3, 2005. It was named
after the gracious living Susan had grown to love
when she was growing up in Tupelo, Miss.
“I love the location,” Susan
says. “When I come to work I feel like I’m on
vacation. I picked this location with long-range
vision. When we opened we were the southernmost
store in the complex, but next year Phase II will be
completed and we will be in the middle.”
Still catless, Susan set about
stocking her little store. Some of her lines are
unusual if not exclusive. She has imported the famed
fairies of Mark Roberts who, as a little boy, was
told tale after tale of the magical folk by his
mother and upon reaching adulthood decided to give
them form.
Those who like to brighten up
the kitchen may be captivated by the works of
Jeanette McCall, a cook so renown that one of her
wedding cakes wound up celebrating the nuptials of
Prince Charles and Lady Diana.
McCall discovered that the
techniques that allowed her to make such fanciful
cake designs would do very nicely, when applied with
liquid ceramics, making lovely cake plates, tea pots
and the like. Her artistry is one of the proudest
offerings of Tea and Magnolias.
Among the other unusual items
are a series of candles by Root Candles, a series of
candles with an incredibly slow burn rate. The
largest candle, in a jar, will keep going for more
than six days before it finally burns out.
Add to all this, items for
Oklahoma or Oklahoma State University football fans,
exotic cookbooks and a wealth of other items and
it’s easy to see that Tea and Magnolias is worth a
look.
Even without Queen Chamo’s
help, Tea and Magnolias was off to a fine start. How
did she become the part of the scene?
My husband suggested we get
one (a cat) for the store so I went to an
organization called Street Cats and found
Chamomile.”
At first, Susan says, Chamomile seemed intimidated
by her surroundings and would flee whenever a
customer came into the store but, as time passed and
she became familiar with her surroundings, she
decided that her favorite spot in the store was
either the soft chair in the office or the
countertop.
Indeed, she was at the latter
place when a customer had the temerity to disturb
her afternoon nap by writing a check. Queen Chamo
reacted by reaching out a royal paw and swatting the
pen from the woman’s hand.
In the short two months she
has been a part of the scene Queen Chamo has become
a star attraction of her own. Customers now drop by
just to see how she’s doing.
So there you have Tea and
Magnolias! For gifts come in and look at the
candles, teas, coffees, kitchenware and all the
other fanciful items offered.
For royalty come in and
acknowledge Queen Chamo but always remember she is a
proud, aloof feline and don’t be disturbed if she
doesn’t acknowledge you back.
