At Tucson’s newest coffee shop, customers can sip agave lattes, nibble on everything bagel croissants and shop locally. 

Sonoran House, located at 1610 N. Tucson Blvd., opened Aug. 19 with a goal of serving coffee and giving local vendors a permanent place to shine. 

Co-owners Arianna Wilson and Courtney Bedient dreamt this idea about a year ago. They also own an online children’s clothing business, Cactus Wren Kids, and fell in love with the retail aspect. They decided to combine retail with their other passion, sipping coffee together, and Sonoran House was born.

As avid coffee goers themselves, the pair wanted to perfect the coffee and tea they offer their customers.  

“It was really fun,” Wilson said. “It was a lot of research, a lot of practice and then we hired a really good, experienced team of baristas to work for us.”

 Wilson said the knowledge that the baristas have helped bridge the gap between some of the things she didn’t know.

Wilson suggests customers try the popular agave latte, which is sweetened with agave syrup to give it a desert sweetness. They also serve pastries from local vegan bakery Houldens Rise Above, including a flakey, everything bagel croissant and a gooey, homemade apple pop tart.

Beyond the beverages and bites, Sonoran House provides a stable location for 50 local vendors to sell their products, ranging from ceramic mugs and  jewelry, to fragrances, clothes, candles and more.

“There is a lot of stuff for everyone,” said Wilson. 

Kelley Costales is the owner of Purple Sky Incense, a local incense company featured in Sonoran House. 

“As a self-professed introvert, I do very few pop up markets any more, although that is how I started,” Costales said. “I also have zero social media game so being in a space like Sonoran House is how people find me.”

Costales makes most of her sales online, driven by customers who see her products in Tucson shops.

“Having products in a brick and mortar location is everything to small makers,” she said.

Wilson understands the importance of having a consistent storefront instead of solely relying on markets. 

“You know, doing these markets is a lot of hard work for all these businesses, so having a standalone place that you know is always open and available for people to come check out their work was kind of exciting and became really important for us,” Wilson said. 

Melissa Henshaw Ceramics, which focuses on mugs, ornaments, magnets, cups and other items made with modern and whimsical flair, is also featured at Sonoran House. 

“We have some really cool ceramic mugs that are very Arizona, very desert,” Wilson said of the Melissa Henshaw collection. “And I know pottery is so difficult; they’re so talented to be able to make some of these cool pieces. So personally, that would be my favorite.”

Henshaw began selling her ceramic work in 2020 and has been balancing storefronts online, in pop-up markets and at other local shops.

“The more opportunities you have to show your product to people, the better chance you have for sales and making those important connections with customers and shop owners,” Henshaw said.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve met a lot of really awesome people, so we definitely wanted to be able to collaborate with them and support as many people as possible,” Wilson said.

Sonoran House is open daily from 6:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Customers can find more details on the establishment’s website and Instagram.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.