If you’ve enjoyed the Parisian atmosphere of bloom you know that owner, Shannon Miller has a talent for creating beautiful spaces that help her customers forget the outside world for a luncheon. But where did it all begin?
In 2002 Shannon moved from Portland Oregon to Albany and opened her first restaurant “Flynns Café” a bistro style café that expressed her love of sharing great food. When running the café she had many requests for Tea’s from regular patrons as there had been a tea shop nearby previously. This started the spark of her love for hosting teas. In 2003 she followed her passion and changed the name to “Charms of Tea” converting it to a full service tea room. She talked fondly of the years running Charms with her mother who ran the gift shop.
Eventually Shannon moved her family to Lebanon and opened Serendipity in 2016. She kept to her Tea house roots by having a tea room in the back. As much as she enjoyed the busy 50 style café she missed the peace and atmosphere that came with running a tea room and the tea room in serendipity was often overlooked. Shannon decided to open Bloom Boutique and Tea house as a separate storefront in 2021 and ran both until late 2021 when she decided to sell Serendipity and focus all her creative energy on creating the Bloom we know and love.
When asked about the inspiration behind the design of Bloom Shannon *Said*(find better synonym) “I like Pretty Things. My roots of style are in the Bohemian and earthy so my shop is a little upscale bohemian. - I like good Food, good tea, and pretty things”. She loves creating a community stop that can whisk you away from troubles for a moment. She said it best in our interview “I want to create an experience. I want a nice place you can go and be taken away. By the time you leave I want everyone to feel relaxed, refreshed, and full. - We are not about speed, we're about creating a place you can go to unwind, decompress and recharge.”
When asked about her favorite part of Bloom she stated that she loves meeting customers, talking to new people, hearing about their lives and seeing the joy that people are brought by the space she’s created. She purposefully offers a small menu, believing less decisions gives you the space to be in the moment. Shannon loves offering a slow space that is becoming so rare in our society. Beautifully curated gift shop. Weekly unique homemade soups, and a community place to gather and hold events.
She hopes people come in to get away from the stress our society is constantly pushing with so many options and decisions and constantly needing to be in control and instead allow themselves to be in the moment and experience the tastes, textures, sounds, and overall atmosphere that is offered at Bloom.
