CHICAGO, Ill.
DavidsTea in October will open the first of three shops in the Windy City which is becoming a retail mecca for tea drinkers as major chains line up against 15-store Argo Tea which is headquartered in Lincoln Park.
Montreal-based DavidsTea, energized last spring with a $14 million cash infusion from Highland Capital Management announced expects to operate more than 80 stores by the end of 2012.
This unique tea establishment will be a new destination for Chicago’s food, drink, health, and wellness lovers, said DavidsTea CEO Jevin Eagle. “Chicago is one of the nation’s best cities for food and drink, so naturally we are thrilled to introduce our unique approach to tea to the Chicago area.”
Co-founder David Segal, who personally selected Chicago locations, said that from the beginning “becoming a part of the fabric of a community is of utmost importance to us. We wanted to come to Chicago because of the city’s strong support of culture and pride in the neighborhoods”.
This summer the company hired Eagle who was a top executive at Staples and named Kathie Lindemann as the company’s new chief operating officer. Lindemann is a former Starbucks senior vice president.
In August the company announced it will open three stores in the San Francisco Bay area with one in Burlingame and two in San Francisco. Two more locations are expected to be announced shortly and DavidsTea is expected to also open in Boston before year end.
The three Chicago locations expected to open in October and November includes: 924 W. Armitage in Lincoln Park, 1645 N. Damen in Bucktown and 3530 N. Southport in Lakeview.
In addition to hundreds of independent and chain coffee shops like nationally-known Intelligentsia Coffee; Chicago tea drinkers can visit 15 Argo Tea locations, three Adagio Tea locations and German-based retailer TeaGschwendner located at 1160 N. State Street. The latter operates 140 tea shops worldwide.
The Chicago shops will be modeled after 74 Canadian locations and two New York City stores located at Bleecker Street and on 3rd Ave. The New York stores opened in November 2011.
DavidsTea operates both mall and street-front stores that stock 150 varieties of loose-leaf tea. Cups are sold for $3 but dry teas in tins and pouches that sell for $6 to $8 per 50 grams generate most of the firm’s revenue along with a busy online store. Stores will employ 12 to 20.
DavidsTea is known for its exclusive signature blends, like Read My Lips, a black tea with chocolate, vanilla, mint and red candy lips, and Goji Pop, a bright red fruit infusion packed with goji berries. Blends often feature exotic, non-traditional tea ingredients like mulberry leaves, hot chilies, pomegranate seeds, kombucha powder and caramel pieces with cheeky names like Kiwi’s Big Adventure and Simply the Zest.
DavidsTea also carries a wide selection of premium traditional estate teas, like wood-fired Sencha Ashikubo and Nepal Black.
DavidsTea was co-founded in 2008 by David Segal and financed by Herschel Segal. The first shop opened on Toronto’s Queen Street. The firm now employs 1,050.
Source: DavidsTea