Whoosh. As the sliding doors open, the strong aroma of tea hits you in the face. Shelves of coolers, water bottles, and miscellaneous drink items prop themselves up. From the rows of tea, there are almost too many to choose from. Unsweet Georgia Peach, Sweet Rasberry, Sweet Mint. You pop a sample cup from the holder. Each one is as good as the last. 

In May of 2018, Bryan and Chelsie Benson, Wall High School’s counselor, and Bradley Hale, Bryan’s college roommate, purchased the opportunity to franchise HTeaO, a tea company, formed from a small shop called Texas Tea. Since then, Mr. Benson and Hale have opened two stores, one in Lubbock and one in San Angelo, and are opening three more located in Collge Station, Fredericksburg, and another in College Station.

“My college roommate and I had been investing in a few things, and he’s from up around Amarillo where Texas Tea is at,” Mr. Benson said. “He was telling me about it, and I would go up there. I would see lines wrapped around the building. I went in to see the concept and thought it was pretty cool.”

To open up a store, the owner and the manager must spend ten days in Amarillo at tea school. The first three days are spent learning everything about tea, and the last days are spent in-store. 

“We get to work in there and work every aspect of the store to understand why we do the things we do there and how the whole store works,” Mr. Benson said.

At first, Mr. Benson and Hale struggled to find real estate in the San Angelo area to suit their needs. Because of this, they opened the store in Lubbock first.

“We struggled to find real estate that would work for us,” Mr. Benson. “So we went to Lubbock, found real estate, and then we started the design process with architects up in Lubbock.”

Both the Wall community and their family were supportive of the endeavor. Mr. Benson states that the family has always gone into real estate, so this whole concept was a new thing. As for Wall, Mrs. Benson states that everybody here has been great.

“When they knew we were about to open, I would get so many questions all the time about when we were opening and how excited they were,” Mrs. Benson said. “I know I’ve seen the PTO has brought tea at teacher lunch-ins, and they’ve been really great and supportive about it.”

 Both Bensons state that their favorite thing about the store is the experience people have within.

“Just seeing people outside of school and getting to talk to people,” Mrs. Benson. “Just seeing people enjoy it makes me happy.”