Storehouse Tea is expanding its Cleveland-area footprint with eight organic varieties now stocked at 21 Heinen's grocery stores. The rollout is the largest retail placement yet for the Lakewood company, which began in 2007 by selling hand-blended tea at farmers markets. The selection includes Earl Grey black tea, Masala Chai black tea, Bright Mint green tea, Citron Jasmine green tea, and Blueberry Hibiscus white tea, along with moringa-based blends and caffeine-free herbal options. The Heinen's products are packaged as sachets, while the company also sells loose-leaf tea.
Founder Paula Hershman launched Storehouse Tea in 2007 with just $350 during an economic downturn, leaving behind a graphic design career to fill what she saw as a gap in the market for locally produced organic tea, according to New Hope Network. As reported by Cleveland.com, Hershman started the brand selling hand-blended tea at farmers markets before it grew into a company describing itself as a premium organic, fair-trade tea brand with a wholesale client base across the country.
The company's sachets are triangular tea bags made with biodegradable filter mesh that the brand describes as non-toxic, free of microplastics and environmentally friendly, per the same Cleveland.com report. That design choice tracks with broader industry discussion: Royal New York says some tea bags can release microplastics, while Soontact provides figures indicating that traditional paper and plastic tea bags heat-sealed with polypropylene can shed millions to billions of microplastic and nanoplastic particles per cup into hot tea. Pyramid-shaped sachets like the ones Storehouse Tea uses also offer roughly 30 percent or more internal volume compared to flat paper bags, according to Soontact, letting the leaves unfurl more like a loose-leaf brew.
A Growing Product Line and a Bigger Home Base
Hershman's catalog now spans 66 loose-leaf teas, 13 tea sachets, and matcha, the Cleveland.com article notes, alongside a line of five functional teas she added and accessories like teapots, tea infusers, filter bags, matcha bowls and whisks that she sells directly. Moringa, one of the leaf bases in her newer blends, is a caffeine-free leaf prized for its nutrient density, antioxidant content, and mild earthy flavor, per that same report.
The company also expanded its operating base, tripling its production and warehouse space last year when it moved from Cleveland's Hildebrandt Building to Lakewood's Screw Factory building. The facility, officially known as the Lake Erie Building, is part of an 18-acre complex built in 1917 for Templar Motors that now houses more than 100 artist studios, makers and local food businesses, according to Cleveland Magazine. The building at 13333 Athens Ave. previously housed Wasmer Fasteners, which operated as Lake Erie Screw.
What the Heinen's placement signals
Heinen's says its vendor network includes small, local businesses that custom formulate products to the grocer's specifications. The chain also describes a product-development process involving store managers, manufacturers, local and national vendors, and its corporate chef, according to Heinen's. That provides context for the operational opportunity a Cleveland-area producer can find in regional grocery distribution, though it does not document the terms of Storehouse Tea's placement.
Hershman has said the driving principle behind her tea has always been simple. “The product had to be good for people,” she told Cleveland.com, adding that she wanted to bring a high-quality, healthy product to market.
Beyond Retail Shelves, a Social Mission
Storehouse Tea's growth carries a dimension that goes beyond product certifications. The company operates as a social enterprise that intentionally hires local refugees and immigrants living in Cuyahoga County, partnering with resettlement agencies and international high schools on mentorship and job training, according to the company's own account cited via Storehouse Tea. That mission has been part of the brand's identity well before this month's grocery expansion, and it remains an open question how the company plans to scale its refugee workforce and production capacity as sachet demand grows across Heinen's 21 stores.
Storehouse Tea's wholesale reach already extends well beyond Northeast Ohio. The brand is served in restaurants and hotels in Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington, D.C., per Cleveland.com's reporting. Locally, its teas have been mentioned in connection with Cleveland-based Solstice Roasters and Stella Maris, according to FreshWater Cleveland.
Why Heinen's Makes Sense as a Retail Partner
Heinen's traces its roots to a Shaker Heights butcher shop founded in 1929 and remains guided by third- and fourth-generation members of the Heinen family. Historical tallies cited for the chain include 24 stores — 19 in Ohio and five in Illinois — in 2016, while another count listed 18 Northeast Ohio stores and two distribution warehouses. Those figures are not a current store count, but they provide background for the scale of a 21-store placement.
Heinen's recent local history has included some contraction alongside its growth. In July, the grocer permanently closed its landmark Downtown Cleveland store at East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue after 11 years inside the Cleveland Trust rotunda, according to reporting Hoodline has covered in Downtown Cleveland Fills Its Grocery Void With New Mall B Farmers Market. Hoodline has also examined the public funding tied to that downtown location before its closure in its report on Cleveland's economic development financing.
Where to Find Storehouse Tea Locally
Beyond the new Heinen's placement, Storehouse Tea boxes are also sold at regional spots including Patterson Fruit Farm in Chesterland and Astoria Cafe & Market in Cleveland, per Cleveland.com. The company additionally offers tea sales directly from its offices from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Fans of the brand can also catch it at the Screw Factory September Art Market, taking place at the Screw Factory building in Lakewood this Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For those brewing at home, tea category matters: delicate green and white teas call for water below boiling, around 190°F, steeped for two to three minutes to avoid bitter tannin extraction, while heartier black and chai blends benefit from a full boil at 212°F for five to seven minutes, according to New Hope Network's brewing guidance.
