DavidsTea (often stylized as DAVIDsTEA) (in French ''Les Thés DavidsTea'') is a Canadian specialty
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
and tea accessory
retailer
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
based in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
It is the largest Canadian-based specialty tea boutique in the country. Following the company's initial public offering, common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Global Market on June 5, 2015.
The company had 240 locations but by July 2020 required financial reorganization, which involved permanently closing all 42 U.S. stores, 166 stores in Canada, and focusing on its e-commerce and wholesale business.
History
In 2008, David Segal and his cousin Herschel Segal founded DavidsTea's headquarters and main offices in Montreal, but opened its first store on Queen Street in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
the same year,
followed by its first Montreal store, in 2009. In 2010, the company had stores located across Canada, opening its 50th store in
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...
in 2011 and, that November, opened its first store outside of Canada, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. A growing boutique tea industry expanded the company, by 2012, to more than 75 stores across North America, with over 150 varieties of tea.
The company conducted an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
in the United States in June 2015, the proposed
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
stock symbol being DTEA.
In 2013, former talkshow host
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...
surprised the small company by promoting the brand in live shows, and later in ''
O, The Oprah Magazine
''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications.
Overview
It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...
''.
In March 2016, co-founder David Segal resigned from DavidsTea.
On May 24, 2016, Christine Bullen was appointed managing director of U.S. markets. On December 8, 2016, Bullen was named interim president and CEO, effective February 1, 2017.
On March 13, 2017, DavidsTea appointed Joel Silver as president and chief executive officer. On June 14, 2018, Silver resigned as chief executive after the company's shareholders voted to elect a new group of directors to the company's board, including Herschel Segal, one of the company's original founders.
In August 2018, DavidsTea announced plans to sell tea bags of their best-selling blends at
Loblaw
Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...
locations across Canada.
In June 2020, DavidsTea announced that it has not paid rent at any of its store locations for three months as all its stores have been closed since March 17 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. It also indicated that it may pursue a formal restructuring. The company announced on July 8 that it was filing for bankruptcy protection from its creditors in Canada to continue operations while it restructured, and planned to close down a significant number of stores. By that date, the company had obtained
Chapter 15, Title 11, United States Code
{{USBankruptcy
Chapter 15, Title 11, United States Code United States bankruptcy code that deals with jurisdiction in certain bankruptcy cases. Under Chapter 15, a representative of a corporate bankruptcy proceeding outside the United States can ...
court protection from creditors in the US. The next day, it was announced that 82 locations in Canada and all 42 locations in the United States would close, while more favourable leases were sought for the remaining 100 stores, with more to potentially close depending on the outcome of these talks with landlords. By September, they had reduced the number of retail locations to 18. Of 240 locations it had at the start of 2020, it permanently closed all 42 U.S. stores and 166 stores in Canada. It announced that it would focus on its e-commerce and wholesale businesses.
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.davidstea.com
Companies based in Quebec
Mount Royal, Quebec
Tea companies of Canada
Retail companies established in 2008
2008 establishments in Quebec
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020