LUPICIA.com CLOSING - group order for people in the US?? No happy bags.

That’s great news. Did she say specifically where we can order online, hopefully, USA? Ordering from their Japanese web site with the mail forwarding is somewhat complicated. Thanks for the info!

Just got a reply from Lupicia on my question about the online store closing on Facebook:

“Thank you for contacting us.

We regret to inform you that LUPICIA will cease its US Mainland operation including our California retail locations as well as our online store. The decision was made due to circumstances beyond our control, such as the great increase of various costs in recent years. Our mainland operation will cease as of February 28, 2019. After this date, only our Hawaii Ala Moana location will remain in operation.

Our online shop will be closed as of February 28, 2019; however, we plan to accommodate orders from our Mainland customers by shipping items from our Ala Moana store. We will post the update on our website shortly.
We are truly grateful for your patronage over the years, and we appreciate your continued patronage of our Hawaii store.

Thank you,

LUPICIA FRESH TEA"

If anyone in the US wants to buy and sell me a Strawberry & Rhubarb to offset some of your costs to get to $60, I’d be up for that. (or if you wanted to keep 25 grams and sell me the other 25grams, that would be fine too.)

So glad you started this thread! I had gotten the email about the store closures but was confused on the details since the email was so vague. This is why I make sure to check Steepster off and on for things like this. I would’ve been so sad if I missed out on stocking up on my Lupicia favorites :-( I just placed an order so I can make sure to get what I want. I didn’t want to wait too long in case blends start selling out. I am going to hopefully make a trek over to the Costa Mesa location and see what is actually on sale.

I spoke a bit with Anna (formerly of Steepster) on Instagram, and she says whoever she spoke to at Lupicia was adamant that they are not closing the physical or online stores in France.

So who knows what’s going on with the French and Australian stores at this point…

I have my own news to add. I sent an e-mail asking if there would be a sale on the website before the end of February:

“Thank you for contacting us. Management has not yet decided if there will be a sale before the end of operations, however many teas are selling out quickly, so depending on what you’d like to purchase we advise placing an order sooner than later. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for choosing LUPICIA. "

Just a little bit more info from the Lupicia Hawaii store. I had sent them an email asking how to go about ordering, if they have a listing of the teas they offer, and whether they carry seasonal teas like Kumquat, Momijigari, etc.

The response:

“Good afternoon,

Thank you for your interest in our products.

Regarding your inquiries, they are listed below:

We carry most of the seasonal limited flavors in our store. However, some of them are extremely popular and sell out quickly. Please understand if your favorite flavor is not available.

FYI: Tochiotome Green and black teas, liquor inspired teas (Calvados, Rhum & Whiskey), along with chocolate teas (Earl Grey Chocolat, Framboise Chocolat, & Yuzu Chocolat) will be available starting in February.

Unfortunately, we do not currently have a listing of the teas available for purchase in our store with the exception of the Hawaii Limited Flavors.

If you would like to place an order with us, you can do so by contacting us directly at the number listed below. Each time you place an order we will take your information and order then, once you confirm your order along with shipping and handling charges, we will charge your card. (You will need to provide us with the credit card information each time you place an order as we do not keep any credit card information on file.) All packages are sent via USPS Priority Mail and will include tracking numbers. If you would like us to, we can email you the tracking number so you can keep tabs on your order.

The closure of the California and Online stores were a surprise for us as well. We are looking into what can possibly be done for our online customers but this will take some time. For now, you can contact us whenever you need to order any teas.

Thank you and we hope to hear from you again."

A couple of notes from Kawaii433, who apparently can’t post here at the moment. She placed a phone order with the Hawaii store today.

Direct quote from Kawaii:
“She said she could fit up to ~12 bags of tea in one USPS flat rate envelope, depending upon what type of tea, and the shipping cost was $8 + $3.75 handling fee.”

And from an email she received regarding the seasonal chocolate teas:
“We do have the Chocolate teas available for sale in our store. They are listed below:

Earl Grey Chocolat in 50gr pack $8.50 or 5TB in limited design mini tin $5.50
Framboise Chocolat in 50gr pack $8.50 or 5TB in limited design mini tin $5.50
Yuzu Chocolat in 50gr pack $8.50 or 5TB in limited design mini tin $5.50
The Au Chocolat in 50gr pack $8.50 or 5TB in limited design mini tin $5.50 or 10TB $8.50 (Regular 10TB package)
Marron Chocolat in 50gr pack $8.50 or 5TB in limited design mini tin $5.50
Orange chocolat in 50gr pack $8.50 or 5TB in limited design mini tin $5.50"

For those interested in teaware from Lupicia, there is a 30-50% off sale on the website starting 02/08/2019. There’s everything from Hario brand “Handy Coolers” (30% off) and “Mon Pote” (40% off) to Iron teaware (50% off).

There are also matcha accessories and other tea accessories that are on sale. I recommend going into the individual links under the “Teaware” tab (ie: click on “Tasting Cup” etc) to get more options.

Looks like they are doing a 20% sale on all teas, too.

I’m so sad as well. Love Lupicia. I’ve been to their Japan store too and it’s great, but I loved having a US lifeline.

Have we scheduled a group buy yet?