Michael and Janice McCann moved to Juneau from Montana two years ago, looking to phase into retirement. Now they\u2019re running two stores, almost by accident.<\/p>\n
When the owners of the Red Onion \u2014 a specialty tea and spice shop in the Mendenhall Valley \u2014 decided to move away, the McCanns bought the store and started running it. Soon afterward, a spot opened in the Senate Mall on South Franklin Street downtown and other downtown business owners approached them about basically moving the Red Onion to that spot.<\/p>\n
They decided to keep the Red Onion where it is, as a small community of people are regulars at the shop, and open a different store at the Senate Mall. Their friend Leslie Rubbo joined them, and the new store, Harbor Tea and Spices, was born. The shop opened June 17, but its grand opening is this weekend, with a First Friday event and an all-day Saturday opening.<\/p>\n
[July First Friday listings<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n The fresh name and logo are a nod to nostalgia. For Michael, whose father was in the Coast Guard and who grew up near the ocean before moving to Montana, the harbor brings back memories. The harbor also plays a vital role in the spice industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThis saltwater out here touches the shore of China,\u201d Michael said, gesturing westward. \u201cSo there\u2019s an implication, a historical connection with the old spice trade routes.\u201d<\/p>\n The smell of herbs and spices now fills the Senate Mall, leading people to the small shop with yellow and blue walls. They have around 250 herbs and spices and 50 varieties of tea from all over the world, and have a few of their own herbal blends as well.<\/p>\n They\u2019ll be adding more as the weeks and months go along, and Janice said she\u2019s hoping to teach the community more about the benefits of tea and organic herbs in everyday life. Janice said Wednesday was one of their best days yet, and that the local reaction has been extremely positive.<\/p>\n For the summer, the shop is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Its grand opening this weekend will include tea tasting, treats from local baker Chef Stef<\/a> and even a live radio broadcast Saturday afternoon. Its First Friday event begins at 4:30 p.m. and will have hors d\u2019oeuvres and tea samples.<\/p>\n Rubbo, who has years of experience in retail from Toys \u201cR\u201d Us to restaurants, is particularly excited to collaborate with customers. She\u2019s getting the shop\u2019s social media pages up and running, and hopes to interact with shoppers online.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to engage with the customers,\u201d Rubbo said. \u201cWe have social media going. If they hit it out of the park with one of these spices in a recipe, we want to post that.\u201d<\/p>\n The co-owners are facing the challenge of splitting time between the two locations, but aren\u2019t worn out yet. They spoke energetically about their new endeavor Thursday morning at the new store, excitedly showing off their new labels and new herbal blends.<\/p>\n The three of them clearly spend a great deal of time together, often finishing each other\u2019s sentences as they explain how they\u2019re handling running both stores.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just stretched in every direction,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the doors are open,\u201d Rubbo interjected with a laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd people are loving it,\u201d Janice said.<\/p>\n Know &Go<\/span><\/p>\n What: Harbor Tea &Spice grand opening<\/p>\n Where: Senate Mall, 175 S. Franklin St.<\/p>\n When: 4:30-8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com.<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael and Janice McCann moved to Juneau from Montana two years ago, looking to phase into retirement. Now they\u2019re running two stores, almost by accident. When the owners of the Red Onion \u2014 a specialty tea and spice shop<\/a> in the Mendenhall Valley \u2014 decided to move away, the McCanns bought the store and started […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428,"featured_media":29744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-29743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/428"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29743"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=29743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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