Matthew | Ocean State Spice & Tea Merchants
I’m the co-owner of Ocean State Spice & Tea Merchants with my fiancé Jessica. Our main focus items would be our tea, which we have over 200 different types of. We also have our spice section, which is split into about 80 different spice blends. Most of them are blended in store. We’ve been open just about a year and a half now.
When I left my corporate job, I was looking for a business to own myself. This is something I’ve always been passionate about, tea and spices and cooking, so I was naturally drawn to this. And then I saw kind of a gap, where there wasn’t anything in the area that people could go to and have a local spice shop. So I just felt there was a need in the community and it just felt kind of right at the time, to fill that void.
My mother was an avid cook. Growing up, she would cook all different types of spicy foods. So I got kind of drawn to that. And she and my grandmother used to drink a lot of different teas. So I was kind of fascinated by all the different flavors and different types for a whole body wellness, for sleep, and calm and relaxation. So I was kind of drawn to that holistic type of medicinal products. I was always kind of dabbling in and out of the cooking and the herbal world throughout growing up, basically.
I live off of Hope Street, so I naturally wanted to do something right near home. I wasn’t as familiar with Wayland until I started coming down here with my fiance, having coffee and seeing the way it’s set up — like a little village. Just walking around and seeing all the different types of restaurants and stores and the way people in Wayland Manor shop local. It just had a great feeling where it felt like this was where my shop should be. Just kind of felt natural.
Michelle Bi studies English and International & Public Affairs at Brown University. On campus, she writes for The Brown Daily Herald and is involved in social science research. She grew up in Ventura County, CA and enjoys playing guitar and crossword puzzles.
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