When it comes to tea retailing – or coffee, for that matter – the Australian merchants seem, increasingly, to have things sewn up.

T2, the loose-leaf tea merchant from Down Under, has been a feature of high streets in this country for some time now. Its small contemporary stores move the business of tea drinking away from the doilies-and-porcelain brigade.

The Tea Centre, meanwhile, is a retailer that has yet to make landfall here, but on the evidence of its recently opened concept store in Northbridge, a Sydney suburb, it seems a fair bet that it would be an instant hit.

Relaxed vibe

The store, created by McCartney Design, is in the Northbridge Plaza shopping centre.

Visitors looking in through the open front would notice that no single area is given prominence over any other. Instead, there are central raised black marble islands and the perimeter is filled with teas in gold packaging.

With a raw wood, bronze and cream colour palette, this is a relaxing interior and one that catches the eye immediately.