Cha House opens new brick-and-mortar space in Avondale

Last month, the owner of Red Bird Produce announced that the locally-sourced grocery store would be closing its doors for good after a year and a half in Avondale. Luckily, the building wasn’t empty for long—Cha House, a local community tea house, has transformed the former grocery store into a new space where guests can visit with friends, attend community events and enjoy a wide variety of speciality teas.

Bham Now spoke to Cha House owner Cierra Lober to learn more about her new brick-and-mortar location.

About Cha House, Birmingham’s only community tea house

For the past four years, local entrepreneur and tea enthusiast Cierra Lober has hosted Cha House’s community tea experiences during community pop-up events and, recently, at her own space inside Red Bird Produce. After the closing of Red Bird Produce last month, Cha House has expanded its footprint inside the former grocery store.

“Casey [Hobbs, owner of Red Bird Produce] came to me a few weeks before Red Bird Produce closed and asked if I would want to take over the space. At the time, I wasn’t looking to scale up, but I reflected on how my business was doing and realized this was something I could handle.

It’s been overwhelming at times, but mostly I just feel excited to make this space my own and get the vibe right.”

Cierra Lober, Owner, Cha House

Cierra founded Cha House in 2021 after visiting a friend in Oakland, California. There, she toured several tea houses and realized it was something Birmingham was missing.

“The tea house experience gave people a natural way to connect in new ways, and I wanted to introduce the concept to Birmingham. From then on, I began learning everything I could about tea.”

Cierra Lober, Owner, Cha House

At Cha House’s new brick-and-mortar space in Avondale, guests can pick from over two score of different tea varieties served in one of Cha House’s unique tea cups.

“We have over 40 unique types of teas—white tea, green tea, yellow tea, Oolong, Pu’er, black teas and herbal teas as well. The extensive menu can be overwhelming to some, but I love educating people on the different types of teas.”

Cierra Lober, Owner, Cha House

• Cha House: Website | Facebook | Instagram
• Address: 131 41st St S, Birmingham, AL 35222
• Hours: (closed Labor Day weekend, hours subject to change in September)
  • Monday-Thursday, 4PM to 8PM
  • Friday, 2PM to 8PM
  • Saturday and Sunday, 11AM to 3PM

In addition to its normal operating hours, Cha House hosts community events like yoga, basket weaving, sound bath, belly dancing, poetry and more throughout the month. Visit Cha House’s event page to learn more.

Visit the Cha House website and follow Cha House on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on upcoming events!