Meet Arlene Yuan of Teapop in North Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Arlene Yuan.

Arlene, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was a dancer/choreographer for the past 10 years here in LA. Had a back injury and so decided to jump careers. I don’t drink coffee, therefore, wanted to create a space with good vibes for tea drinkers but still include that coffee shop culture. My mission is to make tea as popular as coffee in this town!I import tea from Taiwan. And spent 6 months in my kitchen brewing up recipes and what is now our menu.

I’m a big believer of community and how it adds value to individual lives, a neighborhood, and surrounding businesses. We are very nosey with our customers 🙂 My employees are artists as well, and so that’s the type of customer we attract. dancers, actors, filmmakers, writers are what make our space so creative!

Since the shop opened, we have featured a local artist every month…hosted community events like salsa night, outdoor movies, pop-up dinners, charity fundraisers, and workshops. This is the fun part! I opened Teapop in January 2015. Now celebrating our 2 year anniversary.

Has it been a smooth road?
I have never worked in a cafe before, so everything was new. I had a vision for what I wanted the space to look and feel like but I did have a team of friends who helped me design/build out Teapop. The building was a dump when we first got here…it was a building from the 50s and nothing had been upgraded since then. The process of permits and licenses from the City of LA was probably the biggest set of hurdles because this town has a ton of rules, bureaucracy, red tape that you have to navigate through in order to even start.

I remember at the onset of summer the A/C unit died. As you know, the valley has gnarly 100+ degree heat so I had to shut down the store until we had a solution. In the meantime, we made a “back patio tea bar” with a limited menu on the days we could bear the weather until I got the unit replaced. Customers chipped in on a crowdfunding site to help with the cost. This is COMMUNITY.

My parents owned a restaurant when I was younger, so I knew how much time and mental energy it would take to run my own business. However, it doesn’t alleviate the stress–I worked about 70-80 hour weeks for the first 12 months to master how to operate and manage a tea shop. I also decided to go solo on this endeavor, which I wanted to have 100% creative control, but I still can’t clone myself and find it difficult to wear so many hats.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Teapop does 3 things: tea, art, pop-up events–hence, T&APOP. The ampersand in our logo symbolizes the bridge between two’s, such as tea & art, friends & family, peanut butter & jelly. I wanted the space to bring people together. Our design and branding reflects this. Most of our furniture is communal. There is a seating area in the back patio that is made for big groups to lounge.

Our building storefront is pretty insignificant–there’s no big neon lights or sign, but we do have graffiti art on the north side. Customers can always count on seeing featured art on the walls. I try to keep the gallery as non-pretentious, easily accessible, and “pop” as possible.

I’m most proud of the community that has emerged from my staff and customers. They have inside jokes, they laugh a lot. We have very loyal teapop-goers. These people make up the fabric of what makes the space feel so cozy.

As for my role, I mainly bring peace and take away chaos. I try my best to set up my staff for success, which means planning ahead all the time. I also run the social media, graphic design, payroll, events, and create retail merch. I used to be a dancer and had no less than 2 jobs in LA at any given time, so I understand how to be resourceful, creative, and have fun–this is mostly the traits that I bring to the job every day.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
LA is very special. You really have to know the demographic. I am in my own customer demographic so it’s a little easier to know how my customers eat/drink/think/freelance. However, it is a tough city to conquer in terms of taxes, rent, and other overhead expenses. If you have BIG faith in your idea, then you just gotta risk everything that seems “normal” and go for it, but otherwise, I would tell someone to start small first from grassroots and then build up from there. People love the story behind an idea. So that needs to be real.

Contact Info:

• Address: 5050 Vineland ave. North Hollywood, CA 91601
• Website: www.teapopla.com
• Phone: 818-732-0084
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @teapop
• Facebook: facebook.com/teapoplosangeles
• Twitter: teapopla
• Yelp: Teapop

Image Credit:
Mason Summers