‘Pure’ iced tea chain HTeaO set to open first JoCo shop
Gardner residents who have anxiously waited for months for Texas-based tea franchise HTeaO to open will have to wait a bit longer.
The iced tea shop at the intersection of Main Street and Moonlight Road, just east of downtown Gardner, will be the first Johnson County franchise for the Texas-based company.
Local franchisee Mark Martinez planned to open the site at the end of this month, but setbacks have now tentatively pushed that opening day to the end of September.
Martinez said delays in setting up an internet service provider are what prevented him from opening this week.
“I am not happy, but I am not stressing,” he said. “I am focusing on controlling what I can.”
HTeaO broke ground in mid-April
The business specializes in 26 flavors of iced teas.
Customers in other locations, mostly around the southern U.S., are known for ordering five or six gallons at a time for picnics, parties and other events, Martinez said.
“It is a festive environment,” he added. “It has a cool place vibe.”
Martinez said he felt Gardner was the perfect place for HTeaO’s first Kansas City-area location, noting the city’s staff and city council members have been welcoming and open to the new business concept.
“They have been phenomenal to work with,” he said.
HTeaO originated in Texas in 2009
The beverage company purifies its water and ice with a reverse osmosis system and then polishes the water with minerals to make its tea stand out.
The company website said this process gives the tea a more “clean and pure” taste. No syrups, preservatives or colors are used in their teas.
The company has locations all over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, New Mexico and Louisiana.
Its nearest locations to the Kansas City area are one in Raymore, Missouri, and franchise locations in Derby, Wichita and Hutchinson.
Martinez hired local construction company Ed Moore Construction Co., and said he hopes to hire local teenagers to give them a positive first-job experience.
Source: Johnson County Post
