Projects by The Teaguy
A Life as a Serial Entrepreneur
My entrepreneurial career dates back to my childhood, but I truly got serious in 1993 when I co-founded Edmonton's first indoor rock climbing center.
-The Teaguy
Teaopia Limited
- Toronto, Ontario.
I am currently in Toronto helping develop a Mall based retail tea bar. My specific focus right now is beverage development with loose leaf being the core of the beverages offered. I have essentially become a tea chef, which suits me fine. Again, the teapresso is playing a large role in where these tea based beverages are heading. Teaopia's Scotia Plaza location has in operation an NT3 Teapresso.
Chai Baba Teahouse
- Kelowna, BC. Opened in August 2006.
Tina Prichard, the founder of Chai Baba contacted me shortly after the opening of Steeps Vancouver to inquire about assisting her with the design, layout and tea program of her project in Kelowna, BC.
Steeps Vancouver Ltd
- West Broadway, Vancouver BC. Opened in December 2004.
The Steeps Group relocated its head office to Vancouver in 2004. At about the same time, some Blenz franchisees approached me and expressed an interest in opening a Steeps location in Vancouver. With much thought and input from all parties involved, Steeps on Broadway opened its doors on December 22nd, 2005. It's definitely become the model store for the Steeps concept.
Steeps Tea Lounge
- College Plaza Edmonton, AB. Opened in June of 2003. Franchise.
A young Edmonton couple had fallen in love with the Steeps concept and desperately wanted their own location. When a space on the campus of the University of Alberta came up for lease, we jumped on it. It took the students awhile to wrap their heads around a $3.00 pot of tea, but today, four years later, its a daily stop for hundreds of the campus community.
www.steepstea.com (College Plaza)
Steeps Calgary
- Calgary, AB Opened late fall of 2001
Shortly after year two of the first teahouse opening there was some interest in taking the concept to Calgary. With the joint effort of another lady already in the tea business we opened Steeps #2 in Mount Royal Village. It was an immediate success.
The Chai Company
- Edmonton, AB. An artisan Chai Brewing company started in 2000.
Rosi Ali - the basecamp cook who introduced me to Chai in the Pakistani Himalayas in 1991 is the inspiration behind the exquisite beverage that we brew and bottle in our Delta facility. It started out on a hot plate in a 12 litre pot at the first teahouse in 1999 and has grown to be the largest Chai company in Canada, brewing almost 20,000 litres per month. Thanks to Rosi Ali for showing me the slow brew method of making great Chai.
Steeps - The Urban Teahouse
- Edmonton, AB Opened in the Spring of 1999
I quit my job as an industrial x-ray technician in November of 1998 and started to work on my goal of opening a tea lounge that would be exclusively dedicated to serving and selling loose leaf tea. I found a great location with reasonable rent and set to work building the first Steeps lounge. It opened on a quiet, hot Wednesday afternoon on May 4th, 1999. For the next four months I was the only employee and through sheer perseverance, the store managed to survive one of Edmonton's hottest summers. Dropping myself into this project taught me a lot about this industry; information that helped me build a successful community of stores under the same name. This information, of course, is why you are here.
Vertically Inclined Rock Gym
- Edmonton, AB Opened in the Fall of 1993
While attending Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, I wrote an Honours thesis on Rock Climbing Gyms. I highlighted Edmonton as a city that had a lot of rock climbers and no private indoor Rock Gym. Within two years after moving there, my partner and myself opened a 6000 square foot indoor climbing centre. It was, and is now, heralded as one of the best rock gyms in Canada
Great individual! Brendan is someone who is very knowledgeable about teas and incidentally, was indispensable with helping me open my tea house. He even came out to Fernie to help me find and set up the right equipment.
Keep up the hard work, you will take the Tea industry to the next level!
"If you help people get what they want, in the process you will get what you want"
-Randy Heinz
Fernie Tea and Coffee House
Fernie, BC