Revival Tea Co. to open new production facility in downtown Spokane

The pandemic has pushed more people online to do their shopping, and the result has been a boon for Revival Tea Co.

The Spokane-based business, which opened a brick-and-mortar store last year at 415 W. Main Ave., Suite 100, has already outgrown its production space as demand for its tea has soared, in part because of a boost in online sales during the holiday season.

As a result, Revival Tea is expanding into a new, 3,290-square-foot production facility at 221 W. Riverside Ave.

“It is something we would have never imagined we would need at this point,” said Drew Henry, owner of Revival Tea Co. “When we took on this space that we are in now, we anticipated we’d be able to do production for five-plus years, but it was pretty evident when we moved in here that wasn’t going to be the case.”

Revival Tea’s new production facility will house the company’s headquarters, tea storage and its blending, bagging, packaging and shipping operations.

While the facility will be closed to the public, Revival Tea is planning to conduct monthly and weekly tours in the future, Henry said.

The production facility provides the company the ability to continue expanding its online presence and grow the wholesale side of its business to offer products in coffee shops, restaurants and grocery stores on the West Coast.

Revival Tea is launching a canned series of individual teas in the summer and will be partnering with Huckleberry’s Natural Market to sell products in stores, Henry said.

“We are hoping in 2021 – with the new facility – to grow into every grocery store within an hour of Spokane,” Henry said.

Revival Tea’s existing retail shop and tasting room will remain open and existing production space in that location will be used for making liquid products, such as the company’s Chai concentrate.

Once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the company is planning to offer tea classes in the retail shop, Henry said.

Henry and his wife, Cerina, launched Revival Tea Co. in 2018 as an online company. It has since grown to five employees.

With addition of the new production facility, Henry anticipates hiring five to seven additional employees this year.

Henry said there’s risk with opening a retail store and it was scary navigating the coronavirus pandemic in the first month of opening the brick-and-mortar location, but he credits the company’s success to community support and the ability to adapt.

“COVID-19 is one of those things that forced us to re-imagine our business model,” he said. “We pivoted and said, ‘If we can’t do dine in, what can we do?’ … The response from people purchasing – we could have never imagined that. It will be a story we will tell 50 years from now in terms of our survival and how we grew.”

Revival Tea Co. plans to open its new production facility in March.

“We are hoping in 2021 – with the new facility – to grow
into every grocery store within an hour of Spokane.” Drew Henry Owner of Revival Tea Co.