House of Vitali-Tea opens retail space in Sherman Phoenix
After years of selling his herbal supplements at popup events, Kamar Carter finally opened his own retail space in Sherman Phoenix, 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
House of Vitali-Tea had its soft opening recently at the north-side business incubator center, selling Carter’s sea moss-infused health products. It’s open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
The shop sells an assortment of sea moss face masks, sea moss gels and capsules, and different types of detoxes and herbal cleanses. A small menu includes fresh salads, vegan wraps and ginger shots. Customers can also buy loose dry tea herbs.
The biggest draw will be Carter’s signature teas and smoothies — all made with sea moss gel, agave and other flavorings. The teas come in blackberry, strawberry, pineapple and ginger lemon. The fresh smoothies include mango and soursop, a tropical fruit that Carter says taste like bananas. Other smoothies include a green smoothie made with pineapple, dandelion leaf and soursop.
Carter stumbled upon making the teas when he saw a video of someone making hot tea with sea moss gel and agave. He experimented with different flavors like ginger, lemon and peppermint, which were an instant hit in his household.
But Carter didn’t get the idea to chill the teas until his girlfriend placed a leftover cup of lemon ginger tea in the refrigerator.
“She called and said, “This is good cold. You should figure out how to bottle this up,’” Carter said. “So, I listened.”
He played with different flavorings and test-marked his sea moss iced tea at a vegan fest. He sold out within hours.
“Ever since then, I started working with different flavors,” Carter said.
House of Vitali-Tea is an expansion of Carter’s herbal supplement company, Nature’s Neter Herbs and Supplements, which he founded in 2019.
Carter wants his shop to be the place for customers to get all their holistic health needs. He plans to host workshops by different types of wellness practitioners.
‘In awe because I never dreamed it’
Carter has come a long way since selling at popups, including at Sherman Phoenix. Now his products, especially his sea moss tea blends, are also found at
Kujichagulia Producers Cooperative, Twisted Plants and Delicious Bites.
“Right now, I am in awe because I never dreamed it,” he said.
When Carter first started working with herbs, he said there was a learning curve for a public not used to non-traditional medicines. He encountered a lot of skepticism.
“I heard so many no’s,” Carter said. But he kept with it and his business took off. People, he said, were becoming health-conscious and wanted to find natural ways to stay healthy. Soon, he developed a loyal following and eventually quit his job working at a factory, repairing shipping pallets.
“As the consciousness grew, so did my business,” he said.
Owning a retail space seemed a natural progression for Carter. But fear got in the way. He said he didn’t understand the ins and outs of operating a retail store. He didn’t think he had enough inventory to keep up with demand.
“At first, I couldn’t feel like I could own a store,” Carter said. “I had to gain confidence that people were confident in me.”
Learning herbal medicines from ancestors
Carter’s medicinal health journey began with studying Black culture long before slavery. The loss of several family members from illnesses partly inspired him to examine herbal medicines.
He learned the healing power of plants and herbs. Natural herbs like sea moss, burdock root, dandelion leaf and dandelion roots contain healing properties and minerals the body needs, he said.
“It was just fascinating to me that we didn’t have a lot of different illnesses back then that we have today,” Carter said.
He parlayed that knowledge into Nature’s Neter Herbs and Supplements.
The other part of his inspiration was his personal transformation. He wanted to heal the damage he caused through the type of music he produced as a rapper and his time running the streets.
“I did a whole 180,” Carter said. “I did a lot of foul stuff. I promoted a lot of foul stuff. I said a lot of foul stuff with my music. I got to a point where I had to balance things out.”
That balance came from sharing the benefits of herbal medicine.
“What better way than being able to put life back into my community with the stuff that I was learning?” Carter said. “I feel like it’s a healing for me because I am able to help somebody else now, vs. tearing the community down.”