diff --git a/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php b/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php
index 0e6bca9c..d4a20d9a 100644
--- a/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php
+++ b/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ use Stancl\Tenancy\Interfaces\StorageDriver;
 
 class DatabaseStorageDriver implements StorageDriver
 {
+    public $useJson = false;
+
+    // todo use an instance of tenant model?
+
     public function identifyTenant(string $domain): array
     {
         $id = $this->getTenantIdByDomain($domain);
@@ -50,13 +54,7 @@ class DatabaseStorageDriver implements StorageDriver
 
     public function getAllTenants(array $uuids = []): array
     {
-        if ($uuids) {
-            $tenants = Tenant::find($uuids);
-        } else {
-            $tenants = Tenant::all();
-        }
-
-        return $tenants->toArray();
+        return Tenant::getAllTenants($uuids)->toArray();
     }
 
     public function get(string $uuid, string $key)
diff --git a/src/Tenant.php b/src/Tenant.php
index 15f714f5..6405e31a 100644
--- a/src/Tenant.php
+++ b/src/Tenant.php
@@ -18,19 +18,34 @@ class Tenant extends Model
      */
     private $dataObject;
 
-    public function dataColumn()
+    public static function dataColumn()
     {
         return config('tenancy.storage.db.data_column', 'data');
     }
 
-    public function customColumns()
+    public static function customColumns()
     {
         return config('tenancy.storage.db.custom_columns', []);
     }
 
     public function getConnectionName()
     {
-        return config('tenancy.storage.db.connection');
+        return config('tenancy.storage.db.connection', 'central');
+    }
+
+    public static function getAllTenants(array $uuids)
+    {
+        $tenants = $uuids ? static::findMany($uuids) : static::all();
+
+        return $tenants->map(function ($tenant) {
+            $tenant = (array) $tenant->attributes;
+            foreach (json_decode($tenant[static::dataColumn()], true) as $key => $value) {
+                $tenant[$key] = $value;
+            }
+            unset($tenant[static::dataColumn()]); // todo what if 'data' key is stored in tenant storage?
+
+            return $tenant;
+        })->toBase();
     }
 
     public function getFromData(string $key)
diff --git a/src/TenantManager.php b/src/TenantManager.php
index bc8ed11d..64fd4a99 100644
--- a/src/TenantManager.php
+++ b/src/TenantManager.php
@@ -86,7 +86,10 @@ final class TenantManager
             throw new \Exception("Domain $domain is already occupied by tenant $id.");
         }
 
-        $tenant = $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($this->storage->createTenant($domain, (string) \Webpatser\Uuid\Uuid::generate(1, $domain)));
+        $tenant = $this->storage->createTenant($domain, (string) \Webpatser\Uuid\Uuid::generate(1, $domain));
+        if ($this->useJson()) {
+            $tenant = $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($tenant);
+        }
 
         if ($data) {
             $this->put($data, null, $tenant['uuid']);
@@ -227,10 +230,15 @@ final class TenantManager
     public function all($uuids = [])
     {
         $uuids = (array) $uuids;
+        $tenants = $this->storage->getAllTenants($uuids);
 
-        return collect(array_map(function ($tenant_array) {
-            return $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($tenant_array);
-        }, $this->storage->getAllTenants($uuids)));
+        if ($this->useJson()) {
+            $tenants = array_map(function ($tenant_array) {
+                return $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($tenant_array);
+            }, $tenants);
+        }
+
+        return collect($tenants);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -336,6 +344,15 @@ final class TenantManager
         return $array;
     }
 
+    public function useJson()
+    {
+        if (property_exists($this->storage, 'useJson') && $this->storage->useJson === false) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Return the identified tenant's attribute(s).
      *
diff --git a/tests/TestCase.php b/tests/TestCase.php
index 500da97b..90243996 100644
--- a/tests/TestCase.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase.php
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ abstract class TestCase extends \Orchestra\Testbench\TestCase
         Redis::connection('cache')->flushdb();
 
         config(['database.default' => 'central']);
+        $this->loadLaravelMigrations();
         $this->loadMigrationsFrom(realpath(__DIR__ . '/../src/assets/migrations'));
 
         if ($this->autoCreateTenant) {