Tea Time at Allison's

Cape May, New Jersey, is one of only a handful of communities in the country designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark District; it boasts perhaps the largest concentrated collection of Victorian buildings in the United States. These days, many of the more than 600 19th-century buildings in the area serve as bed and breakfast inns. Because Cape May is also one of the most popular summer resort destinations in the Northeast, hosting some 100,000 visitors annually in addition to its permanent resident population of approximately 5,000, the community touts itself as "the bed and breakfast capital of the world."

Over the years, Sandra Allison, a resident since 1983, began to realize that there was a market in Cape May for a specialty business that would appeal to the tourist clientele while making use of the area's Victorian character. Inspired by Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Allison opened a tea shop that played on her name and her surroundings: Allison Wonderland.

Allison is quick to point out the difference between a tea shop and a teahouse. "We serve tea, but we don't serve tea," she said — a statement worthy of the Mad Hatter himself. In fact, customers are welcome to sip free samples of Allison Wonderland's brews while they browse through the shop's selection of tea and tea accoutrements.

Prior to opening her tea shop, Allison worked in retailing for more than 25 years, primarily as a store design and display artist. For the last 14 of those years, she was with the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that promotes the restoration and cultural enrichment of greater Cape May. Allison held many roles there over the years, including assistant director of museum and tour operations and director of retail and wholesale operations for the museum's three gift stores. Those jobs gave her a broad knowledge of the community as well as retail experience, which she combined with her flair for design to create the concept for Allison Wonderland. Her new venture would serve as an outlet for her creative instincts, which had been stifled somewhat while she was working at the Center for the Arts.

In 1998, Sandra and her husband, Greg, leased a 620-square-foot space in a downtown pedestrian mall. Because the space didn't need much renovation, Greg, who is a maintenance director at a local B&B, built most of the cabinets and shelves himself. The rest of the shop was outfitted with tables and other furniture from local stores. Sandra, who had attended the New York School of Interior Design, was excited to have the chance to design the store "her way."

"I wanted a sense of independence, to have the chance to swim or sink on my own," said Allison. "And I wanted the shop to be whimsical, and take its tone from the Mad Hatter's tea party in Alice in Wonderland,"

Indeed, a visit to Allison Wonderland is a little like a journey down the rabbit's hole — at least when you compare it with the sober background of Cape May. The walls and many of the furniture pieces are painted in vivid, rich pastel tones, and the interior is draped with white Christmas lights and hanging vines year-round, giving the interior a fairy-tale ambience. It is, in fact, a wonderland amid a Victorian setting.

In addition to the loose teas that are free to sample, the inventory includes a large selection of tabletop merchandise. Allison Wonderland sells more than 100 different teapots, cups, and saucers. However, there's plenty more for customers who feel like browsing. To round out the tea shop, Allison displays a wide range of merchandise with tea themes, including gourmet food products such as scone mixes, honeys, jams, and hand-decorated sugar cubes. She also sells unique personal care products and jewelry made from tea leaves, as well as tea-themed stationery and related merchandise. In the children's section, Allison Wonderland features a line of Humpty Dumpty collectibles. In the adults' section, there are wine accessories for vacationing oenophiles. Allison Wonderland sells candles from Sensations and a line of Mary Engelbreit licensed items that includes tabletop pieces, tote bags, umbrellas, books, and rugs. There is also a selection of musical clocks and backward clocks, particularly appropriate to this wonderland. In all, the merchandise is as curious as the decor.

In addition to the smorgasbord of products that the tea shop offers, Sandra Allison's enthusiastic marketing efforts have helped make Allison Wonderland a popular repeat destination in Cape May. Allison has launched an aggressive marketing drive to establish her shop's presence in the community. Her ongoing projects include a Web site (www.allisonwonderland.com), a quarterly newsletter distributed at bed and breakfast inns, and a tea-of-the-month club. Allison Wonderland hosts high teas three times a year: on Mother's Day, during Cape May's Victorian Week, and at Christmastime. Once each year she holds a drawing for two free nights and a free dinner at a local B&B. This year's drawing, scheduled for Christmas, will benefit the Leukemia Society. Allison hopes to raise as much as $1,000 for the charity. The store also offers free gift wrap and delivery, as well as mail order and special order services to its customers.

"We even have some people bring items from other stores for us to gift wrap and deliver," said Allison. "And we do it. Customer service is very important to us."

The marketing and customer service has paid off. According to Allison, business has increased every year since she opened. She hopes to eventually franchise the shop, spreading the tea and whimsy of Allison Wonderland to new locales.