Two friends, one space makes for great Lee’s Summit business

Angi Byer and Whitney Johnson met around a decade ago while competing in amateur pool league competitions. When a mutual friend told each woman about the retail space opening up just west of downtown Lee’s Summit, the idea to share the location began to take hold.

Today, their businesses share a space designed to offer a welcoming gathering spot for the community. It’s one-stop shopping for freshly made baked goods, a curated selection of loose teas, blended essential oils and unique gifts.

“I knew I didn’t need this whole space, and Whitney didn’t need this whole space,” Byer said. “We both had the same vision that this could be a shared space, and our businesses really complement each other so well that it made sense for us to share the overhead.”

Following a renovation of the former office space, the Paperback Bakery, owned by Johnson, and SereniTea Boutique, owned by Byer, opened on Feb. 8.

Johnson, who had operated a cottage bakery out of her home for around seven years, said the book-themed Paperback Bakery combines her love of baking and reading.

The bakery offers custom cakes for events ranging from weddings to kids’ birthdays, along with items such as pastries, muffins and bars. One especially popular treat at the Paperback Bakery are Johnson’s stuffed cookies, available only on Fridays and Saturdays. The stuffed dessert combines, for example, a chocolate chip cookie stuffed with Nutella or a snickerdoodle stuffed with New York cheesecake.

“My cinnamon rolls and scones are the things people rave about as far as my daily offerings,” Johnson added.

One regular customers stops in for tea and scones. “He said, ‘I’ve never had a scone that made me crave another scone before.’”

In addition to the baked items, the Paperback Bakery sells half-pound sandwiches of pulled pork or brisket, along with sides on Smokin’ Saturday, held on the first Saturday of each month. All of the smoked meats and sides are made fresh at the bakery.

For gluten- or dairy-free customers, the bakery includes several baked treats from Kat’s Keto Bakery.

At SereniTea, Byer offers around 45 loose tea blends, sold by the scoop, with each displayed in testers so customers can smell the blend before they buy. She also sells a daily coffee brew from the Roasterie of Kansas City.

“There are a lot of coffee shops in Lee’s Summit, and I wanted to be more of a niche market and offer the loose teas,” she said. “I wanted people to be able to take their tea home. Or I can whip it up for them, hot or cold, right here and they can decide if they want to purchase it in bulk.”

Byer has also worked in essential oil blends for more than 15 years, initially just for family and friends but soon expanding to pop-ups and craft shows. At SereniTea, she creates her own signature blends, offering products such as lip balms, roller balls, dryer balls, salve, talc-free powder, car diffusers, sugar scrubs, beard oil, hand sanitizer and bath salts.

“I have my standard lists of recipes for blends,” Byer said, adding that she will mix essential oils to create a custom scent or solution for specific requests.

Within SereniTea’s gift shop, Byer focuses on items made within the metropolitan area or purchased from women-owned businesses. In addition to tea accessories, the boutique sells jewelry, hair accessories, tumblers, journals, leather purses, bucket hats and candles, as well as seasonal and sports gifts for Kansas City area teams.

A unique space within the new business is its Book Nook, a cozy room for people to sip tea and eat baked goods, chat with friends, work on a laptop or read a book. The room, which seats around 17 people, features several large bookshelves stocked with Johnson’s books.

The Book Nook even has its own card catalog. Although the books aren’t available for checkout, customers are invited to select a title from the shelves to read within the business. Readers may then use a card from the catalog to make a note of their name, the name of the book and the last page read.

The business owners’ additional plans for the Book Nook include offering special events such as book clubs, craft classes or book exchanges.

“I love to read and so this combines both my loves — baking and reading — together,” Johnson said.

Byer, who quit a corporate job to open SereniTea, said she had also been caring for her parents for some time before they passed away.

“Going through the things that I went through in my family life made me realize how important it was to do something that was enriching and fulfilling,” she said. “I realized that helping people feel better makes me feel good. So making someone a tea that tastes good to them that they enjoy, giving them alternatives, making something new for people brings me immense joy.”

The Paperback Bakery and SerentiTea are located at 500 SW Third Street Unit A.