randolph st. in the chicago loop type private industry restaurants retail tea and coffee wholesale tea founded in june 2003 at 958 west armitage ave. chicago il 60614 founder arsen avakian daniel lindwasser simon simonian headquarters 16 west randolph st. chicago il 60601 key people arsen avakian ceo products signature tea drinks loose tea leaves bottled beverages coffee teaware number of employees 250 website argotea.com argo tea is a chain of tea cafes that was founded in the lincoln park community area in chicago illinois in june 2003 . it is now headquartered in chicago s loop community area . it had more than a dozen locations in the chicago metropolitan area before expanding in 2010 to new york city where it opened four locations that year and then expanded to st. louis and boston . 1 as of october 2011 update the chain had 26 locations and distribution in over 3 000 grocery stores . 2 in its first decade it has grown simultaneously with the tea market . its expansion into grocery stores occurred in 2010 and 2011 . arsen avakian is the current chief executive officer . 1 by spring 2013 it had opened in beirut with plans to add locations in five middle east cities by year end . argo tea primarily sells a variety of hot and cold tea based signature drinks . in addition it offers about three dozen international varieties of loose leaf tea tea brewed from loose tea leaves as opposed to tea leaves in bagged tea coffee baked goods small entr es and teaware . 3 the tea menu includes a variety of black green white teas and natural herbal teas served hot or iced . argo tea has formed a special relationship with whole foods market to distribute argo products . 4 according to the description in bloomberg businessweek argo s specialty foods include pastries sandwiches salads and quiches . argo markets from a lifestyle perspective with awareness of modern design and sustainable environment . it also sells audio cds . 5 contents 1 history 2 products 3 social efforts 4 corporate information 5 references 6 external links history edit following the famous dictum about new york real estate avakian takes the locations of his stores very seriously . he says he spends weeks lurking on street corners to scope out his perfect blend of attributes high daytime foot traffic a demographic he describes as trend setting women in their 20s to 40s and concentrations of neighborhood residents as opposed to tourists . his scouting methods include chatting with falafel vendors bar owners and even homeless men and women to get granular detail on the blocks he considers . the wall street journal 6 argo set out to be the starbucks of tea . 7 8 argo tea was launched in 2003 by three partners arsen avakian simon simonian and daniel lindwasser . 9 avakian and simonian are boyhood friends from armenia . 10 they grew up in yerevan and emigrated in the 1990s to the united states where simonian a computer scientist and avakian a startup company specialist teamed up following the dot com bubble . 11 avakian first came to the united states as a fulbright scholar . 12 lindwasser is a frenchman who moved to the u.s. in 1997 . 13 he is a former management consultant . 7 avakian s father yuri holds multiple wind and solar technology patents . 2 the original argo tea location operated until april 30 2013 . the original 900 square foot 84 m2 2 cafe for argo tea which had 24 indoor seats and 20 patio seats in its 2003 configuration is located at 958 west armitage avenue on the corner of sheffield avenue in chicago . 7 14 the venture which opened in june 2003 8 was the first tea cafe in lincoln park . 15 it was across the street from a starbucks . 16 argo borrowed its name from the story of jason and the argonauts in greek mythology . 17 the original store was financed by its founders who were all experienced management consultants without outside investors . 7 they used their own credit cards as lines of credit . 2 chicago architect mark a. cuellar was hired to design argo s early cafe interiors . 11 employees passing out drink samples at the current headquarters at first the company experimented with expansion by distributing boxed dry tea at whole foods but quickly restrategized . 2 barely six months after opening argo was planning expansion in chicago and beyond . 7 late in 2004 argo signed a lease to make its first expansion beyond its original location at loyola university in the near north side community area on rush street . 18 by the beginning of 2006 there was a third location in the loop community area on randolph street near state with a fourth on the way . 19 in march 2006 20 argo expanded to the south side of chicago at the university of chicago medical center which is located in the hyde park community area with a location that is described as a teaosk a themed kiosk . 17 by 2007 the company decided to pursue consistency across its locations and began a centralized concentrate brewing process . 2 after five years the franchise had 10 locations ranging from 1 000 to 2 000 square feet 93 to 186 m2 all in chicago . 10 in chicago several of the early cafes including the 11th inside merchandise mart and the 13th at o hare international airport have been located in close proximity to a starbucks storefronts with the thought that starbucks is expanding demand for tea . 21 22 by february 2009 the company was still a chicago metropolitan area business with all 13 of its locations . 23 in july 2011 argo became the first outside retail tenant of the tribune tower in six years when it leased space . 24 argo tea expansion 1st cafe outside of chicago evanston il 1st cafe outside of chicago metropolitan area new york city flatiron building argo opened its flagship new york city location in january 2010 by signing a 10 year lease in the flatiron building . 25 it promptly followed with a chelsea neighborhood storefront and then a columbus circle store in the spring . 26 27 it opened a total of four cafes in new york city in 2010 taking advantage of the late 2000s recession which allowed the company to procure prime retail locations such as union square columbus circle and the flatiron district at reasonable rates . the business replaced a dean & deluca in the union square neighborhood . 6 among the investors in the new york city expansion were sam zell glen tullman and oxford capital . 28 in may 2011 the company added its fifth tea room in new york city . 5 29 by 2010 the company eschewed its aspiration to be the starbucks of tea starbucks is more like windows pc it s old less healthy and designed for everyone and we want to be more like mac young healthy cool and a more unique innovative brand . avakian said the company hopes to build the apple of tea . 28 at the time it was opening its 18th store 14 in chicago and 4 in new york and had 10 million in annual sales making it the largest chain focused on tea according to technomic inc. 28 in 2011 the san francisco chronicle credited argo as being the company that caused the 21st century tea shop revolution 1 while time ran a story claiming that argo has gotten america to drink tea . 2 as of 2011 update the united states market had grown to over 3 000 tearooms according to the tea association of the usa . according to beverage digest between 2006 and 2009 coffee consumption declined 2.3 percent in the united states while tea consumption rose 4.5 percent . 1 the growth of teas has caused starbucks to drop the word coffee from its name and build the tazo brand . 1 starbucks had a total 2010 revenue of 9 billion while the entire tea industry was 7.7 billion including 443 million by the top 6 u.s. tea chains . 2 by early october 2011 argo claimed 26 locations in four cities chicago new york boston and st. louis and distribution in 3 000 grocery stores around the country including whole foods safeway and dominick s. 2 when the lease came up for renewal at the original location on april 30 2013 the company did not extend the deal but the company would open greenhouse location the following month . 30 31 by march 2013 bottle drinks which they had begun in 2010 were 20 % of the company s business . 31 by that time argo tea had opened a business location in beirut and had planned to follow that with one in doha in april 2013 . it also intended to open 2013 middle east locations in abu dhabi dubai kuwait and riyadh . 32 33 by september 2013 doha was opened and that month a second beirut location opened . 34 products edit brewing room at state and randolph july 2 2006 tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water . 10 argo was founded in response to a realization that americans had so few tea offerings that they generally were unfamiliar with anything but bagged teas . 1 at the time most tea retailers either supplied bulk tea for home brewing or traditional sit down service but argo focused on premium specialty drinks in paper cups . 2 meanwhile a minority of asian immigrants from countries such as india vietnam and china where tea is the national beverage were spreading some of their traditions . 7 argo endeavored to emphasize the healthy aspects of tea as an alternative to coffee . 14 when it was founded argo was part of a field of blossoming tea cafe franchises meeting a burgeoning demand . 7 by 2002 there were 1 100 tearooms with sit down service . 7 in 2003 retail sales of tea totaled 5.1 billion and in 2005 as the specialty tea market was growing 20 percent per year the total retail tea market was expected to surpass 10 billion by 2010 . 35 argo began with 35 teas from around the world including black tea green tea and chamomile tisane as well as exotic teas . 14 from the outset it included a mix of traditional asian teas as well as teas from exotic locations . 14 one of the companies staple drinks came from a vacation to ipanema beach in rio de janeiro in which avakian paid a juice bar operator to close shop to allow him to experiment with flavor combinations during business hours . 2 several of argo s teas are seasonal . 3 10 one of its signature drinks is the teappuccino a black tea mixed with steamed milk and froth 14 which the company has trademarked . 1 the menu leverages the new wave of specialty teas that may be served sweetened or spiced and that are blended with milk sparkling water or fruit juices . 7 in the early years its favorite offerings were bubble tea pomegranate tea matte latte or chai tea and milk and tea sangria . 36 in its first years the company sold illy brand coffee . 37 while the company imports its teas from sources around the world it now brews its teas at a centralized location in downtown chicago . 10 argo started out selling loose tea in 1 and 4 ounce bags or in bulk . 14 among argo s americanized drink varieties is a version of the national drink of both argentina and uruguay the mate which argo serves as a mate late . 38 by 2010 the