Teavana buys Canadian tea retailer Teaopia
Atlanta-based Teavana, a gourmet tea retailer currently operating more than 200 stores, has purchased one of its main Canadian counterparts Teaopia. The company was bought for $26.9 million. Teaopia is a specialty tea retailer with substantial presence in high-end malls across Canada. It was founded in 2005 and currently runs 46 company-owned stores. Last year, net sales reached $17 million and 12 new stores opened their doors. From Teavana's perspective, the deal immediately establishes a strong foothold in top locations in many of the best malls in Canada, where per capita tea consumption is twice as high as in the US. It also keeps integration costs low thanks to similar store layouts and sales systems between the two companies. Teavana plans to operate 500 locations by 2015.