International Tea Co. Stores was a leading chain of grocers based in London. It was an original constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
History
The business was founded in 1878 by Hudson Kearley (later Viscount Devonport) and Gilbert Augustus Tonge as the International Tea Co., with the objective of selling tea direct to consumers rather than through wholesalers.[1] International's main blenders were Ridgways,[2] which became part of the group with the acquisition of Star Supply Stores in 1929.[3]
Soon, most towns in Southern England had their own International Tea Co. store,[1] as immortalised in a verse from