The Spice & Tea Exchange in New Albany, Indiana
Having just opened in May, The Spice & Tea Exchange of New Albany is making its name in the city. Owner KellyJean Gettelfinger was excited to bring the franchise to the blossoming New Albany area.
“Our first trip to Savannah (Georgia) was my first experience with The Spice & Tea Exchange about eight or nine years ago,” she said. “I absolutely fell in love with the store, the product, the people who worked there and the actual experience.”
The experience is really what Gettelfinger wants customers to leave with. “I want [customers] to leave feeling that they’re excited to come back,” she said.
“We have so many spices and herbs and teas from all over the world that you get to experience somewhat of a little tour around the world when you’re in the store.”
KellyJean Gettelfinger
“We have so many spices and herbs and teas from all over the world that you get to experience somewhat of a little tour around the world when you’re in the store,” she said.
The Spice & Tea Exchange originated in St. Augustine, Florida, and now there are nearly 100 stores across the U.S.
Gettelfinger decided to pursue opening her own franchise location after her son graduated from college.
“I have my own art studio in my home and 2020 just really shut down my classes,” she said. “I started doing online classes and that was fantastic, but for me personally, it was very lonely.”
She really wanted to get back out into the public and, specifically, customer service. “It’s been a lot of hard work and it is definitely a labor of love.”
While preparing for the opportunity, Gettelfinger drove from Indiana down to Florida and visited 12 Spice & Tea Exchange locations on the way to talk with owners. She was also able to visit four other locations while on vacation.
“I can honestly say anywhere that you see a Spice & Tea Exchange store is a place where there’s a lot of fun. A lot of reasons to vacation and to visit … that’s what made me decide to propose New Albany to the Spice & Tea Exchange.”
KellyJean Gettelfinger
“I can honestly say anywhere that you see a Spice & Tea Exchange store is a place where there’s a lot of fun,” she said. “A lot of reasons to vacation and to visit … that’s what made me decide to propose New Albany to the Spice & Tea Exchange.”
Everyone she has worked with in opening the store has been wonderful, she said, and the locations manager fell in love with the town as well.
“New Albany is the perfect fit — it’s almost like a little bullseye right in the middle of everything.”
The Spice & Tea Exchange of New Albany has more than 70 teas that can be taken home to brew or brewed as a cup of warm or cold tea at the in-store tea bar. They also blend all the house custom blends in store, including tea, spices, herbs and a wall of peppers. These custom blends can be used in any kind of cooking such as grilling, rubs, smokes and dips.
They also have flavored sugars and salts, as well as accessories that go along with their teas and spices.
“The fun part about being in our store is we encourage all of our guests to open our trap jars and smell our spice blends,” she said. “So, that’s really fun, because 90% of our taste is aroma.”
Gettelfinger said they also stock flavored honeys and fused olive oils.
“Our olive oils are really unique because they’re fused; they’re not infused,” she said. “Ours are created by a family in Italy and they fuse the flavor with the olives, so they press them together at the same time, which gives it a more robust flavor.”
While they have a huge variety of flavors to try, the Tuscany Spice Blend is Gettelfinger’s all-time favorite, as she uses it in a variety of cooking — toast, compound butter, dips, spaghetti, soup and more.
While they have a huge variety of flavors to try, the Tuscany Spice Blend is Gettelfinger’s all-time favorite, as she uses it in a variety of cooking — toast, compound butter, dips, spaghetti, soup and more.
“A lot of people will say we’ve got this big family room, but we always seem to gather in the kitchen,” she said. “We feed that whole feeling of family and friends gathering in the kitchen and enjoying life together through taste and through smell and the experience of either cooking together or enjoying a meal together.” •
To keep up with The Spice & Tea Exchange of New Albany, visit their Facebook page or their Instagram page @spiceandtea.dna.
Story by Darian Decker
Photos by Michelle Hockman
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