Taylor Ou and her family fell in love with Northville as soon as they moved to town.

Ou and her family moved to Northville from Livonia in 2015. After several years of living in the western Wayne County community, she and her family decided it was time to bring a taste of their heritage to the city.

“After we moved here, every day I walked down the street and liked it here,” Ou said. “I told my husband, ‘We should open a shop here and share our culture.'”

And open a shop they have: Tea Gather, a café dedicated to serving several varieties of tea and light fare, became downtown Northville’s newest business in early February. Located at 135 E. Cady St., the shop sports a refreshed look inside, complete with both indoor and outdoor seating.

The shop serves up a wide variety of Asian tea, including assorted green and black teas; bubble teas; and light fare including basil popcorn chicken, crispy tofu and salted green beans.

The shop attracts customers of all ages and from all backgrounds, Ou said: from the area postal worker who stops by every day to high school students, the shop has become a destination for those seeking a quality cup of tea.

That quality is one way the family hopes to draw in customers: with the shop located off the main thoroughfares of downtown Northville, it can be a challenge to locate if one is just perusing downtown.

Ou said she believes the quality product, as well as the outdoor seating outside the shop, will bring customers off the main drag and into their shop for a cup of tea. Couple those qualities with the nearby public parking lot and the wide range of activities using happening in Northville and she believes it’ll be a recipe for success.

“People will walk around here, some people will see us,” Ou said. “We are not afraid of this. Maybe we are not going to get very busy, but people will find us.”