Ariel Davis tinkered with upcycling vintage dishware as a hobby for a while before making it her business, The Brooklyn Teacup — a woman-owned upcycling operation focused on giving new life to vintage china.
Davis upcycled her grandmother Ruth’s 1940s wedding china (with permission!) into tiered trays for guests at Ruth’s 100th birthday bash. When she started getting calls to upcycle more sets — and nudges from friends and family to get serious — she knew she was on to something.
“It's just creatively repurposing these things that no longer have a purpose,” said Davis. “It's a time where you can sit and indulge and connect with someone else but have these pretty things around you that just feel grounding and inspiring.”
Today, Davis upcycles family heirlooms too fussy to use but too sentimental to discard into practical-yet-pretty “high tea” trays, bird feeders, candleholders, ring dishes and more.
“Our customers want to keep a piece of that nostalgia but want my help to turn it into something with a little bit of story and character,” said Davis.
“It's putting your own touch on these pieces that once felt like they weren't for you."
From ecommerce only to click-and-mortar
Once an online-only business, The Brooklyn Teacup’s studio visits have become central to its offerings and success.
“I never thought we were going to do studio visits. That was never part of the plan,” said Davis, who runs the studio inside her home.
But media attention sparked calls for a physical space, and Davis answered the demand, moving with her husband into a new, larger live-work unit. In it, urban stairs lead to a speakeasy-style underground — all part of the charm.
“Selling in person has added a whole new dimension to the brand,” says Davis. “It has connected us with those interested in the creative experience behind the products we sell and the kind of customer who wants their decor to be a reflection of their unique style.”
As simple as a tap
Davis’ business is mostly cashless, and she uses Visa Tap to Phone for in-person point-of-sale.
“With Tap to Phone I can take payment in any form right from the POS app on my phone. And the customers are always like, ‘Whoa,’” said Davis.
With Tap to Phone, business owners big and small can securely accept contactless payments on the smartphone they already own, by card or digital wallet, simply by downloading an app enabled with Visa Tap to Phone. No extra hardware needed.
“Just knowing that it can go anywhere the customer does makes it so easy,” said Davis. “I always have my phone on me, so the idea that someone could just either pay using their digital wallet or just take out their credit card and just touch my phone, it's like, oh my gosh, this is magic.”
Nothing to lose
According to a Visa study, 82 percent of surveyed small and medium-sized business owners globally have updated their operations to meet the demand for digital payments,¹ and more than 700 thousand Tap to Phone terminals are now active across more than 70 countries.² More broadly, Tap to Pay now makes up 80% of all face-to-face transactions on Visa’s network globally, excluding the U.S., where it represents more than 50%.³ It’s clear that, for consumers, tapping is only growing in popularity — and more business owners are searching for seamless ways to simplify payments both for consumers and their own operations.
For Davis and the Brooklyn Teacup, Tap to Phone is a big part of making that reality.
“Tap to Phone has helped streamline and expedite our checkout process in the studio,” says Davis.
And the best part? She doesn’t have to worry about losing track of essential payments hardware anymore.
“I would lose it all the time,” said Davis of the payments-enabling dongles typical of some other solutions. “Now I don't have to stress about that. It's right there and it makes everything easy.”
- Visa Back to Business Study: 2021
- Visa internal metrics and data as of August 2022
- Visa Q3 2024 Earnings: https://s1.q4cdn.com/050606653/files/doc_financials/2024/q3/CORRECTED-TRANSCRIPT_-Visa-Inc-V-US-Q3-2024-Earnings-Call-23-July-2024-5_00-PM-ET.pdf