DavidsTea facts for kids
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The storefront of a former DavidsTea location in the Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall
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| Public | |
| Traded as | TSX-V: DTEA |
| Founded | Montreal, Quebec, Canada (2008) |
| Founders | David Segal Herschel Segal |
| Headquarters | Mount Royal, Quebec, Canada |
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Number of locations
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20 |
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Area served
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Canada, US (formerly) |
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Key people
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| Products | Loose-leaf tea, tea bags, teaware |
| Revenue | 41.2 million (2019) |
DavidsTea (often called DAVIDsTEA) is a Canadian company. It sells special tea and tea accessories. The company started in Montreal, Quebec. It is known for its wide variety of loose-leaf teas and teaware.
DavidsTea used to have many stores across Canada and the United States. However, in 2020, the company faced some financial challenges. They decided to close most of their stores. Now, DavidsTea mainly focuses on selling its products online and to other businesses.
Contents
History
How DavidsTea Started
DavidsTea was founded in 2008. Two cousins, David Segal and Herschel Segal, started the company. Their main office was in Montreal. The very first DavidsTea store opened in Toronto in 2008. A year later, in 2009, they opened their first store in Montreal.
Growing Across North America
By 2010, DavidsTea had stores all over Canada. They opened their 50th store in Waterloo, Ontario in 2011. That same year, they opened their first store outside Canada, in New York City. The company grew quickly. By 2012, they had more than 75 stores. They offered over 150 different kinds of tea!
A Boost from Oprah
In 2013, something exciting happened. Famous talk show host Oprah Winfrey discovered DavidsTea. She promoted the brand on her live shows. She also featured them in her magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine. This helped DavidsTea become even more popular.
On June 5, 2015, DavidsTea started selling shares of its company to the public. This means people could buy a small part of the company. Their shares were traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the United States.
Changes and New Plans
In March 2016, co-founder David Segal left DavidsTea. The company also saw some changes in its leadership. In August 2018, DavidsTea announced a new plan. They would start selling tea bags of their most popular blends. You could find these tea bags in Loblaw stores across Canada.
Facing Challenges and Adapting
In 2020, the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic. DavidsTea, like many businesses, had to close all its stores. This caused big financial challenges for the company.
In July 2020, DavidsTea announced a major change. They decided to close all 42 of their stores in the United States. They also closed 166 stores in Canada. This was a tough decision. The company chose to focus on selling tea through its website and to other businesses. By September 2020, they had only 18 retail stores left.
In April 2023, DavidsTea made another change. They stopped trading their shares on the Nasdaq. Instead, they started trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada. This is a different stock market.
