A groundbreaking ceremony was held today at 405 Early Blvd. at 2 o’clock as the plans to build an HTeaO in Early were announce. The Early Municipal Development District board and City Administration met with owners Jason Manning, Dean Crump, Hayden Hutchens and Jessica Hutchens over the last 18 months to secure this development for the city.
HTeaO is defined as a quick-service restaurant and specializes in selling tea of which there are 26 flavors, some sweet, some not. You can mix and match all of them at the self-service dispensers, which means there are hundreds upon hundreds of potential combinations and all you have to do is dream. There’s a fruit bar too, if you want to add fresh strawberries or kiwis to your cup of sweet coconut–blueberry–Georgia peach–mint.
HTeaO also sells tea in gallon jugs and you can buy the proprietary tea bags if you’re adventurous enough to brew at home. Every HTeaO location has a drive-through. This business also uses pebble ice which is extremely popular and additionally has a happy hour from 2pm to 4pm.
“The Early Municipal Development District board, along with Tony Aaron and myself, began working with this group of developers in September of 2020 to bring this quick service brand to our market.” Said Assistant City Administrator Larry McConn.
He stated that as they identified corporate brands that fit the Early market, the began looking for franchisees that were willing to invest in the Early and surrounding area communities.
Larry added, “When Jason, Dean, Hayden and Jessica,” the store’s owners and operators, “came forward with this brand, we knew we were conducting business with a development group that shared the same community values we have here in Early. We are happy to welcome this development into our growing community of businesses calling Early home.”
HTeaO started in Amarillo, TX in 2009 when Gary Hutchins’ restaurant Buns Over Texas began selling multiple flavors of iced teas. When the restaurant saw their sales began to drastically increase, it was clear that a separate restaurant that sole teas would succeed well. Gary and his son Justin Howe opened a new tea store next to Buns Over Texas and together they paved the way for what HTeaO is today.
In 2018, HTeaO was opened in Midland, TX and has since expanded to 37 stores operational throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Florida.
Currently, there are 300 stores planned for development over the next few years. Texas Monthly has stated that HTeaO is taking over Texas and that soon, the HTeaO brand will become as iconic to the state as Buc-ee’s.
“There is no doubt that HTeaO will be popular in Early and a perfect fit for our amazing community.” said City Administrator Tony Aaron.