Cuples Tea House relocating to Baltimore’s Harborplace in April

Lynnette Dodson, right, speaks with a patron at Cuples Tea House. She and her husband, Eric, own the shop in the 400 block of North Howard Street. file

Black-owned tea spot Cuples Tea House will be relocating to Harborplace this spring.

Cuples Tea House, which has occupied its North Howard Street location since 2021, will be following its sister company, Vinyl and Pages, to Harborplace.

Moving to Harborplace is a gamble, co-owner of the tea house, Lynnette Dodson, said, as she’s not sure what the foot traffic will look like. It’s a gamble they’re willing to take as people still visit and are interested in Baltimore.

Decreased foot traffic was one contributing factor to the husband and wife team have decided to move spaces. The collapse of the Key Bridge and the rise in interest rates were additional factors to their financial success.

On Saturday, their busiest day, they see between 40 to 50 paying customers. Recently, on some days they would see 10 to 15.

With their 10th anniversary arriving in March, Dodson said it’s a bittersweet time as she feels a lot was invested in their Howard Street location.

“A lot of people had high hopes for us at Howard Street,” she said. “I feel like I’ve let people down in some way but also like they say ‘if it doesn’t make dollars it doesn’t make sense.’”

Dodson added the Key Bridge collapse resulted in lasting import challenges from their major supplier in New Jersey, which she says she only sees getting worse.

Dodson and her husband, Eric, have experience changing locations when they moved Vinyl Pages, where visitors can skim through vinyl records, read books and sip tea, to Harborplace last fall.

They’re pushing for people to “reactivate” Haborplace focusing heavily on the Light Street pavilion.

They aim to increase the number of locals that visit the Inner Harbor.

Their last day on Howard Street is March 8, as their Harborplace location opens in early April.

“While our time has expired,” she said. “We’re opening it up to the next round of young entrepreneurs who want to pursue their dreams and passions. Howard Street would be a great place for them to start.”

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