Tucked in The Sunshine State, between water and beaches, the TeBella Tea Co. spans three cities with four locations, bringing tea knowledge and experiences alike to an unlikely area.
Founded in 2010 in Florida, the company’s flagship store – Davis Islands, Tampa – opened its doors with much doubt from the surrounding residents.
“My next door neighbors to the shop came in on day one, when we finally finished the build out,” shared Founder and Owner Abigail StClair. “They were two older gentlemen who took a look around the shop and then at me. They said to me, deadpan, ‘Let me get this straight; this is a tea shop? You think you are going to make money at this?’”
StClair had goals of serving cups of tea to-go, with a focus on loose-leaf teas and accessories. Building a retail store front, she focused on offering teas ranging from traditional teas to Darjeeling, Gyokuro and Silver Needle, to the more unique and flavorful teas of Whiskey Pu-erh, Dulce De Leche Oolong and Summer Melon Herbal.
Even with doubts from onlookers early on, StClair started her journey to opening TeBella as if it were a movie. Working her way through serving jobs, saving for her future business, knowing that each endeavor would be a step towards a tea shop.
Throughout her journey in tea, she truly worked smarter not harder, learning through experiences such as new business bootcamps and educational sessions at the annual World Tea Expo, and advice from some of the most unexpected places.
“I was working at a restaurant while I was saving for TeBella, called the Marlin Darlin, and I had this regular family that would ask for me,” recalled StClair. “We got to talking once, and they asked what I was doing at the restaurant waiting tables. The father said to me, ‘I will give you one piece of advice; keep your overhead low. Think small, then work to grand.’”'
Taking this advice, StClair has insisted on keeping her overhead low and ensuring that there was always room for growth when necessary. She did this by starting with a 900 square foot shop space, using IKEA cabinets (as nothing was custom), and being thrifty with the structure of the tea wall. This allowed for the tea, and many options at that, to speak for itself when it came time for the doors to open, building into the brand that TeBella has become.
Branding Was a Key Effort for TeBella Tea Co.
StClair set her mind on TeBella’s future from the beginning, knowing that branding was going to be key to the success of her business. StClair accomplished this by using resources dedicated to being able to trademark her company’s name and making sure her products were recognizable anywhere.
This laid the framework to what quickly grew from one location that locals and the occasional tourist sought out, to an attractive opportunity for other entrepreneurs in the area. Shortly after Davis Islands opened with popularity, StClair was approached by Blake Casper, CEO of the Caspers Co., and founder of the Oxford Exchange.
The Oxford Exchange, nestled in the heart of Downtown Tampa and across the street from Henry B. Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel (now the University of Tampa), is a product of the Caspers Co. wanting to create an environment for the mixing of food, community and shopping.
Casper approaching StClair allowed for the second TeBella location to open, attaching a tea cupping bar to the Oxford Exchange’s restaurant.
“We were only, I want to say, 18 months old and I would not have had the capital in the bank at that point to open a second store on my own. But he [Casper] was determined because he loved his experience at Davis Islands and he took on all the risk of incorporating us into that project,” StClair said, contributing support from the same community that had doubts on her success to, well, her success.
A Dedication to Staff Training and a Thriving Wholesale Business
This appeal of having high end teas in restaurants of the same caliber – like the tea cupping bar at the Oxford Exchange’s restaurant – led to the TeBella Tea wholesale program, something StClair did not foresee, nor was it something she wrote in her initial business plans.
The tea and the customer service experience that StClair and her staff has provided led to well over 150 different wholesale clients, spanning cafes, bars and restaurants all across the United States.
This focus of the customer experience has led to a cult-like following of the TeBella brand. In fact, StClair insists on the education of her staff and has dedicated herself to this continuation of knowledge. By providing readings to her leadership teams, encouraging cupping of teas as often as wanted, and fostering the exploration of new steeping methods the TeBella staff is often challenged to keep up with the ever-changing industry.
In the exploration of this knowledge, StClair – in her many tea travels through Japan, India, Sri Lanka and China – sought new teas and new developments to keep up with customer requests. She learned through these travels the importance of sourcing directly, ensuring not only the quality of tea, but building her business through her own importing.
“I had thought from the beginning that I would start using mostly blends that I could buy domestically, tweaking them a little bit myself,” said StClair. “But I really wasn't importing a lot myself at that point. And that first trip to Japan really helped me determine that I could and should start importing a lot of my own tea, especially the high-end single estate, single origin teas. I will say that the other buyers on that trip were really helpful as well as encouraging me.”
As her own importing has expanded the collection of tea over the years, so did the need for giving customers more offerings as two more stores expanded into St. Petersburg and Sarasota. These locations, both being the youngest, have become talking points for customers. Both feature an iconic library ladder that slides across the tea wall seamlessly, building more unto the experiential retail.
“We really want to be consistent across the brand, so that people can expect the same experience when they go into each store for the most part,” StClair said. “But that doesn't mean that, you know, each individual team can't have their own flair,” a secret StClair holds dearly as she insists on creativity from her teams.
Inspiring Everyone to Have Tea Any Way They Like
Inspiring the teams to get creative on the bar, new drinks sprout up all the time. Drinks such as a Black Sugar Matcha Latte, a St. Petersburg exclusive, consisting of a sugar sourced from Okinawa, Japan that is made into a simple syrup, have become some of the best-selling beverages. Through a monthly specialty drink program, TeBella is able to offer unique combinations that can seem somewhat experimental, such as the Earl of Orange, a Earl Grey shaken with orange juice. This helps foster creativity and inspires everyone to have tea any way they like.
StClair’s teams are found behind the counter sipping teas on the regular, concocting new drinks or reading borrowed books from StClair’s personal library. The staff members bring in teas they source with teawares they find fascinating, and they spend their downtime cupping and exploring the endless possibilities found within the beverage. StClair attributes her continued success to the passion her employees have for the product, and shared that passion is the most important part of the job, as it simply cannot be taught.
TeBella Tea Co. Celebrates Its 13th Anniversary
TeBella is celebrating its 13th year of operation as a whole and is consistently seeing new customers and always has new things in the works. In all, StClair’s final remarks were that TeBella never tries to be all things tea for everyone. She has continued to build her business with this foundation of sticking with quality over quantity.
To learn more about TeBella Tea Co., visit TeBellaTea.com.
Adelaide Green is an avid tea drinker, who has worked professionally in the tea industry for five years. Living in St. Petersburg, Fla, Green attended the University of South Florida to persue a bachelor's degree in food and travel writing. She spends her days reading, drinking tea, and spending time with her cat, Pretzel.
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