By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s newest business threw open its doors Friday morning and the customers lined up around the block.
HTeaO, a regional franchise that provides consumers with a unique line of teas and is owned locally by Don and Julia Williams, had new customers lined up more than a block down the street from their 301 Veterans Blvd. location awaiting their tasty beverage throughout the weekend.
The company Ranks No. 59 on Inc. Magazine’s List of the Southwest Region’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies.
Al Arreola Sr., City of Del Rio’s mayor, was pleased to welcome the new business.
“This shows we’re growing,” Arreola said. “This lets people know Del Rio is open for business!”
At the 10 a.m. Friday ribbon cutting, surrounded by family and college friends who drove in from across the state for the occasion, Don Williams, a retired Texas Ranger, thanked a number of people who helped him open.
“I have to thank God, my wife, Clay Ellis (Realtor who helped him find the location) and Tony Hernandez (Amistad Bank president who helped with financing),” Williams said.
Williams said he fell in love with Del Rio in the mid-90’s.
“DPS sent me down here and I thought the area was beautiful and started bringing my wife and kids down here,” he said. “We just fell in love with it and when the chance came to open this, we jumped at it!” He and Julia live here full time now.
The company’s website provided the following background about the growing chain.
“HTeaO is known for its wide variety of teas with flavors ranging from mint to mango fresco. Teas can come sweet or unsweet, and any flavors can be combined to create something new. For example, customers can combine coconut tea with almond green tea to create a secret flavor called almond joy. One of the favorites is sweet blueberry green tea because of its strong, sweet blueberry flavor.
There are also seasonal rotations of different teas, such as peach cobbler during the fall and strawberry passion during the summer.
Not only can customers order tea, but coffee is available as well. Hot and cold coffee can be purchased, with regular hot lattes and fun iced
horchata coffee on the menu. HTeaO also has Texas Chai Lattes, which is its signature take on the classic chai.
On top of the drinks, merchandise is also inside the store. Clothing and accessories are on display, plus plenty of snacks. HTeaO has a wide variety of items for purchase.
HTeaO is a quickly growing franchise, with the first being opened in 2018. Now, there are around 50 locations and 400 franchise-signed agreements. CEO Justin Howe said HTeaO was on top of the trends, and it was one of the only tea companies “innovating in this space” according to World Tea News.”
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Contact the author at joelalangton@gmail.com
