Quebec Business SPOTTED in the Midwest: DAVIDsTEA in Chicago

Thursday, February 5, 2015

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Montreal-based company, DAVIDsTEA, was founded in 2008 by tea lover and connoisseur David Segal. Along with his cousin, Herschel Segal, David began changing the nature of tea around Canada. In 2011, DAVIDsTEA made its big move to the United States, starting with a flagship store in New York City, and eventually in 2012, it crossed over to the Mid-West with its first Chicago-based stores.

Loupe

The DAVIDsTEA” Perfect Mug” is Hannah’s favorite product; a well-designed mug, with a tea infuser. This mug is perfect for any tea drinkers, the lid keeps tea hot, while it seeps. Also remove the lid to use as a perfectly sized coaster

Walk into DAVIDsTEA, and instantly it’s very apparent that you’re no longer in an average tea store anymore. With bright and vibrant colors, and a consistently friendly staff, DAVIDsTEA welcomes in their big city customers, making them feel like they’re in a small neighborhood tea shop. Customers can choose from over 150 types of tea, all organic, and grown around the world. Teas are neatly color coded into 8 different categories including; white, green, oolong, pu’erh, mate (etc.). This company is seriously passionate about creating great tasting teas, and finding interesting flavor combinations to amaze even the most skeptical tea drinker.

Recently, the Quebec Delegation had a chance to sit down with two DAVIDsTEA employees; Tiffany Smith, the store manager of DAVIDsTEA's only Naperville location, and Hannah Lewis, DAVIDsTEA's Chicago District Manager. Together we discussed the impact the Quebecois company has had on Chicago, and the delicious tea which has made this company so well-known.

We went to DAVIDsTEA on Michigan Ave to ask two tea experts the importance of having companies like DAVIDsTEA in Chicago. Tiffany Smith described the unique outlook DAVIDsTEA has on tea in comparison to other tea stores. DAVIDsTEA is meant to “de-snob the tea industry and share tea love with everyone” Ms. Smith told us. Really DAVIDsTEA stores welcome and make customers comfortable, which is an important factor for any business in or out of Chicago.

It’s evident that DAVIDsTEA is a unique company; however we wanted to know what else made the brand special, especially here in Chicago. Hannah Lewis described the various community organizations DAVIDsTEA is involved with. Including; the Armitage Street Fest, working with various yoga studios around Chicago, and handing out free samples to different university students around Chicago.

DAVIDsTEA leaves are grown around the world! In the United States, a number of tea leaves are grown in Oregon, and the company is the largest organic tea business is North America. Similar to Montreal, DAVIDsTEA in Chicago has its own impact on the surrounding community. Hannah Lewis explained DAVIDsTEA stores are all about the neighborhood. “There are hyper local communities that surround the stores, and create a small town feel.” So far, DAVIDsTEA has primarily stayed in big cities, however there may be a growing trend towards a more suburban and country- side base. As the 2nd most consumed beverage in the world, there’s definitely a growing need for more locations of DAVIDsTEA, and fast!

Come check out DAVIDsTEA at the 5 Chicago locations near you!

The QBSM series is a simple and informal way to talk about Québec’s presence in the Midwest. By taking pictures of Québec’s goods and services whenever we see them, we, at the Québec office in Chicago, are able to tell you a story about Quebec’s economy, creativity, talent, and perhaps even its history. Though it would be impossible to give you an exhaustive list of all the Québec products in the Midwest (we export more than $8 billion of goods to the Midwest per year!) the QBSM series seeks to provide a small but informative window into Québec’s economic scene. If you know of a Québec product, store, technology or even an artist or a show in the Midwest that we should include in this series, please let us know about it by contacting: Kerith Iverson


Pictured in Cover Photo from left to right: Hannah Lewis, Chicago District Manager, Tiffany Smith, Naperville Store Manager