It's Tea Thyme

Ever since she grew up in Big Spring, Frances Miles has wanted a tearoom of her own.

“When I was a teenager, I lived next door to a tea room,” she said. “I saw all these beautifully dressed women going in and out of the tea room.”

She also spent time working on the Globe Theatre’s Christmas tea.

And when, her husband of 44 years, Jack Miles, died last year, she decided it was time to look for a new calling.

“It was devastating,” Frances Miles, 73, said. “I had to have something to do besides cleaning apartments.”

Eventually, she figured it would be easier to open a tea store. After getting help from a woman she works for, she was able to find a small room in the corner of the second-floor hallway of the North Park Plaza building.

And so Tea Thyme was born. Along with tea, the store, which opened Aug. 17, sells spices, herbs and natural oils. Miles said she’s trying to promote the healthy lifestyle taught by the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Miles said Tea Thyme, which sells both tea bags and loose-leaf tea, is the only store of its kind in Odessa. She offers products not available in a typical grocery store.

“I think it’s better quality,” she said. “I’ve tried this tea, it’s delicious. When it says ‘raspberry,’ it really tastes like raspberry.”

So far, Miles said her only customers have been friends. But she hopes business will pick up once she starts advertising.

Miles is already winning admirers.

“At her age, I think it’s very brave and fabulous, — especially never doing it before,” said Mitzie Cotton, who franchises the ScentChips sold at Tea Thyme.

Eventually, Miles would still like to own a tearoom — not just a tea store. It would serve light lunches and hold events like weddings and social groups.

“It’ll be a meeting place for people to have high tea,” she said. “I just want to make people happy.”

Tea Thyme

>> Hours: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

>> Location: 1901 E. 37th St., Suite 204.

>> Phone: (432) 413-6670.