Erin said

Canadian Teavana??

I thought that Teavana was a states-only thing, but apparently there’s one opening in my building (in Toronto). Does anyone know about this?
Also, the only thing I really know about Teavana is the whole upselling thing. Are their teas any good?

27 Replies

That’s quite some news! How is Tea Emporium in Toronto doing?
I believe upselling is a large company thing, not something unique to Teavana. After all, having some high profile tea store is better than having nothing, as in many other cities.

It’s doing ok, though not many people know about it… s’ok, more for me =D
-one of my fave tea shops!!

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Brian said

Their teas are good but pricey. You can definitely get higher quality tea (or at least equivalent) for cheaper elsewhere, especially from specialized vendors.

And they always have delicious (read: wonderfully super sweetened) and delightfully smelling flavored blends to sample to trick entice all the folks walking buy to enter.

And I’ll stop at that before I get myself worked up… there are other threads for that very purpose :P

But back to your original question: yes.

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momo said

They just started expanding into Canada, first store opened in Vancouver a couple months back. Since they’re based here there was a news story like a week before it opened that they are expanding in the 4th quarter. Way to announce that IN the 4th quarter.
Some of the teas are okay, some of their blends have too much going on, and they really push sweetening things.

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Tina S. said

There’s one coming to Toronto? Dangit, just when I thought I’d kicked the Teavana thing. I agree with what’s said about. They really like strong overpowering flavours and seem to push using a lot of sweetener. If you go in knowing what you want and looking like you know what you’re doing, you’re a lot less likely to be pushed around.

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I really do love their chai/chai blend. You can score a free sample at the shop before committing. I’d recommend buying online if you can – I think the tea is fresher. If you want to sample the chai blend or any others that I have, please let me know. (Just check my cupboard.) These teas can get PRICEY so I’m happy to help defray at least some of the costs. :)

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Jillian said

Urgh, really? I think Davids Tea and Teaopia do the flavoured tea blends thing better and they’re less annoying (and expensive). Frankly Teavana’s rep is such that I’ll do my upmost to avoid setting foot in one of their stores.

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Miss Alex said

I’d heard rumblings about it. Don’t be too surprised: Teaopia used to be Teavana before they moved up here to try and corner the tea market. Now they’re their own thing.

Their teas are pretty good, and they typically encourage blending them – that’s different from some other companies.

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This is such sad news!

Edit: Also, you should give this a read: http://steepster.com/discuss/134-teavana-if-you-dont-want-to-buy-something-too-bad

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Geoffrey said

I’ve never been inside a Teavana store and have only had one experience with their tea, so I can’t really say much about their offerings. But what I can say is that a couple years ago my girlfriend came home with some Earl Grey from them. When I opened the bag, the smell of the bergamot was so overpowering and shrill that it practically gave me a headache, which seems to echo the overdone flavoring/sweetness comments that others have made here. Don’t know about the rest of their selection, but I really haven’t been interested since that experience.

Curious thing to hear about their push into Canada though…. I wonder how they’ll fare against David’s Tea. I was looking at the store map on David’s Tea website a little while back and saw that they have a couple stores in Manhattan now. As Teavana moves on Canada, David’s Tea is apparently moving into the US to some degree as well.

DavidsTea will beat them hands down. They’re not even on the same level!

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On behalf of the United States, I suggest a trade. You can have Teavana and we’ll take DavidsTea. :)

Holls said

haha no thanks!! ;)

Uniquity said

I think this is a bad idea for us : )

momo said

I like this trade especially if that meant all Teavanas become DavidsTeas as I would be rolling in them.

And broke. And also feeling bad for Canada.

Ninavampi said

Hahaha… Can little countries get a bit of tea love as well? Ecuador needs more tea shops!

On behalf of Canada, have a raspberry. :P

Jillian said

Yeaaahhhh…how about no? :D

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