In Midland a new tea lounge has opened, with a different approach than than other coffee shops know in the area. Grove Tea Lounge is located on Abbott Road, and has almost 35 home brewed teas, kombucha, coffee, and even hot chocolate.  

“We are like a kind of a coffee shop and a sit down restaurant all in one,” owner of Grove, Patrick McElgunn said.

One of their best sellers are the cookie dough bites. Other options that are displayed in the showcase, placed at the front of the store including sandwiches, salads, muffins and even mochi ice cream.

Having a couple of different coffee shops throughout Midland can make business more difficult than it would’ve been a few years ago.

“We had just another dimension to the space and [other local coffee shops] really validated that those are the types of things that people are looking for,” McElgunn said. “With that, we felt really confident coming into it that we could just be one more piece to the puzzle.”

One of Grove’s main goals it to make their business have the biggest influence as possible.They work with recyclers in Midland, and they also create relationships with the framers that their tea and coffee come from.

“I think initially we really have a desire to have the greatest positive impact for the greatest number of people not just here in the in our community,” McElgunn said.

“Although that’s a very important focus for us, we’re also looking up and down the supply chain.”