Small Business Focus: The Whiskey City Sweet Retreat

By Jay & Barb Carmen

Photos by Barb Carmen, Barb Carmen Photography

Janice Rohrer comes from a family of firsts. Her mother was the first elected councilwoman in Vevay, Indiana. Her grandmother was the first woman bus driver in the city of Cincinnati. And her tea room, the Whiskey City Sweet Retreat, is the first of its kind in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Whiskey City Sweet Retreat opened in June of 2017. Christened with a ribbon cutting by the mayor, the tea room is located at 29 E. High Street in Lawrenceburg and occupies the back area and courtyard of Millie & Company Mercantile, owned by friend Jana Vaughan.

Whiskey City is Janice’s first foray into the world of small business ownership. Janice and her husband David are originally from Westside Cincinnati. But her parents lived in Vevay and Janice and David often passed through Lawrenceburg on the way to visit. The town, with its riverside charm and many small shops and businesses, made an impression on the couple.

Janice smiles. “I have Hoosier in my blood. My mom was born and raised in Madison. When she met my dad she was living in Cincinnati and (so) they stayed in Cincinnati. When they retired they built a house down in Vevay. We made many many trips down to Indiana to see family.”

Janice had worked in banking. She weathered the mergers and acquisitions that followed the 2009 Recession but, after 28 years, was ready for a change. The Rohrer’s decided to move. They sold their old home in Colerain Township and built a new one in Lawrenceburg. Her husband had already retired and Janice, preparing to do the same, started looking for something new to do with her time.

She took a part-time position handling accounts payable for Whitewater Crossing Christian Church, in Cleves, Ohio. It was her preacher, David Vaughan, who encouraged her to contact his sister, Jana. Jana Vaughan was opening her own mercantile shop in Lawrenceburg, not far from the Rohrer’s new home.

“I started filling in for her (Jana) at her store when she would have different shows,” says Janice. “She traveled for these on the weekend...I worked Saturday mornings.”

The Mercantile also housed an unused back room which Jana had intended to close off. But after further discussion, the two women determined it might work as a separate shop.

Heather Rohrer (left) and Janice Rohrer (right).

“I had never been in business before,” states Janice flatly. “I had no clue what I was getting into. I was retiring the end of March (2017). I took off and went to Florida for about a month and worked this all out in my head on the beach.”

David and Janice have three children and Janice wanted to bring family into her venture. Returning from vacation, she sat down with daughter, Heather, to discuss business options.

“We all served our time as managers,” observes Heather, speaking of her mother and father and their cumulative management experience.  “(But) I had experience in restaurant and food service…(and) managed in a deli at an Ameristop.

Says Janice, “Heather and I had the idea of making an ice cream shop. Then we decided that was too seasonal. Then we went to the idea of a coffee shop. (But) the coffee machines are very expensive and then you have to learn how to make all those coffees.”

The city of Lawrenceburg was offering redevelopment grants to small businesses. Hoping to secure assistance with coffee shop expenses, Janice submitted a proposal. But business plans took a turn when the proposal came up for review.

“At the meeting, they decided to let Main Street Lawrenceburg deal with any grants for small businesses. Because of that decision, they didn’t deny me but they put me on the back burner. That’s why I didn’t go with coffee -- because I didn’t get the grant. I didn’t want to take $10,000 and buy a coffee machine.”

Knowing that it might be a little while before Main Street could work out details for the program and get back to them, the two women decided to consider an alternative business plan.

“I’m one of those people that once I have this idea I’m going with it no matter what I need to do,” remembers Janice. “Then someone said, ‘What about tea?’”

My Mom…(had) wanted to open a tea room (in Vevay) because she said that was ‘the upcoming thing’. She has been gone for 17-18 years now. There’s no other tea room or anything like it around here. So I went ahead.”

Whiskey City opened in June, less than 90 days after Janice first began working out the details at the beach. Not long after, she received a phone call.

“We (our family) had a food booth here at Music on the River on Thursday nights where we sold goodies and sandwiches during the summer. Somebody called me one night as we were setting up and said that the guidelines for Main Street had been completed and they wanted me to be the first to apply. They already had my financials and my business plan and didn’t see a problem with me getting the grant. But I told them that I had already opened for business.”

The tea room is rooted in the English tradition. However, its American counterpart has its own unique flavor.

“We offer three-course teas,” explains Janice. “This is a low tea. A lot of people confuse that. The history of a low tea is that it was for the wealthy, the upper class. It would tide them over from their lunch to their dinner because they dined late in the evening. They would have little finger sandwiches, little pastries, or fruits. (The women) would have their lady friends come over and they would do their stitching, reading, poetry, maybe music. It was a social time.”

“(But) Americans didn’t think it (the American version of the low tea) was sophisticated enough to call it a low tea, so everything was a high tea. A high tea was for the working man after 6 o’clock when he would come home to have bangers and mash and his pints.* Along with that he would have dessert.”

The Whiskey City Sweet Retreat follows a schedule that is a combination of traditions. Lunch is, well, lunch. But tea is a special occasion.

“You can come for lunch. It’s first-come, first-serve. (Most) everything is made from scratch. The bakery, the soups. The recipes are all original.”

“We serve teas by reservation. It’s maybe a step above a little cafe or eatery. We serve on table china . . . and tablecloths. Normally we have flowers on the table.”

“We have a lot of regulars that come in. We have a variety of teas. People come in and get something from the bakery case and have a pot of tea, especially when the courtyard is open. It’s amazing the relationships that we’re building here in this little tea room.”

The jump from retirement to tea room might be daunting for some. But Janice (and Heather) have taken it all in stride and made tea the family business.

“My granddaughters, Isabel and Grace, come and help out.
They work on Saturdays. They’ll clean up, carry dishes out, sweep. We started that because Isabel wanted to go to an art camp. I told her, ‘You come over and work and you can keep your (table) tips and I’ll match your money.’ She knows the menu and one day she made $32.”

“She walks around, chits chats and...tells people that (we are) three generations and she plans on taking it over one day. She talks about it so much at school that her teachers have been coming in!”

Whiskey City has yet to celebrate its first anniversary. But just as Janice made plans for a new work before she’d even retired, she’s already looking at what’s ahead for the tea room.

“My vision is that Heather will take this business over totally and I will just do the fun things. I will step away and just come in when I want to bake or make something special. Doing the social part, the decorating, making (gift) baskets.”

“This turning the direction that it (did), I believe that God had a hand in all this. I’m not one that believes in coincidences. I believe things happen for a reason. If God’s got a hand in it, it’s gonna’ work.”

“I don’t see myself ever sitting in a rocking chair thinking what can I do to fill my days.”

For more information about Whiskey City Sweet Retreat, visit their Facebook page, or call (513) 315-9283.

*Bangers and mash and pints. For us colonials, that’s sausages served with mashed potatoes and beer.