Teahouse Kuan Yin is looking for a new home

Teahouse Kuan Yin, 1911 N. 45th, fixture on 45th Street for over 25 years, has lost its lease and will be leaving Wallingford, with closure scheduled for early July. The landlord has already found a new tenant for the space.  The owners are looking for a new location in different North Seattle neighborhood, and are hoping to keep the business viable with the help of a Go Fund Me campaign.

“We weren’t able to get a lease arrangement that worked,” says co-owner Marcus Gramps. “We wanted to invest some money and fix the place up but we were unable to agree on terms with the landlord that would make that viable.”

Gramps projects that they need to raise at least $30,000 through Go Fund Me to remain in operation, move, and build a new space. They’re hoping to hit $65,000, which would pay off debt they’ve been carrying for the past decade and let them start with a clean slate and a new business plan.

Gramps’s vision is for the new location to have a greater focus on bulk tea. “We plan to sell bulk tea at the front of the store, but we’ll definitely still have a seating area. There will be seating for 15 to 30. We’d like to continue to have food service, but that will depend on the facilities at the new space.

“We’re looking in Greenlake, Greenwood, and Phinney Ridge—somewhere with easy access in and out. We want to hit the sweet spot where we’re in a nice neighborhood but there isn’t bad traffic. People complain about the traffic on 45th Street.”