Now that Teavana has been Sold to Starbucks for 620 Million How Are You Feeling?

77 Replies
GatorTea said

I think most Steepster members feel animosity towards Teavana because they are extremely pushy and assume you know nothing about tea when you walk in, which is pretty fair if you think about it in light of most Americans knowing little to nothing about tea. However, it is leaps and bounds away from some other local tea shops in my area or even an online shop like Verdant Tea or Mandala Tea. These feel more like authentic tea shops to me wheras Teavana is like a mega-corporation now that is has the Starbucks brand behind it. At least Teavana is getting the loose-leaf name out there and hopefully people will realize they can get their 4 month old 30 dollar green tea from another store more fresh and cheaper too.

Gator there are many very sophisticated tea drinkers in this country,having been in and out of the business, I have met very savvy tea drinkers, I think however Teavana was a start off point for many who were new to tea.

Euromut said

They were the only reason I got in to teas in the first place so I have no animosity towards them at all.

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Emily M said

I do owe Teavana credit for introducing me to loose leaf tea. That, however, is where my affection for the company stops. From in-store sales tricks, to tea that seemed overpriced and of lower quality, Teavana failed to impress me for long. As soon as I ordered from other online and local vendors, I realized what a scam the whole thing had been. I’ve since found fresh, relatively inexpensive tea from much more people friendly companies. Therefore, I’m not at all bothered about this news. I don’t go to Starbucks, nor do I shop Teavana any longer, so let them combine and make overpriced/mediocre drinks together.

Emily,
I had the same experience, one thing i’m happy about, is that maybe the Teavana staff will be treated better under new management.

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I read this thread yesterday and I have a funny story to go along with it. I have a big problem with Teavana because of the amount of sugar they put in the samples yet preach endlessly about the health benefits. Sorry but if you put 2 pounds of sugar in your tea, I think that cancels out the health benefits. Anyway, my husband took my son to the mall yesterday and apparently they stopped in Teavana to look around for potential Christmas presents. My husband really doesn’t enjoy tea, but for whatever reason he decided to try a sample. He told the salesperson that it just tasted like overpriced fruit punch. Hahahaha, I love him.

Sugar in the samples oh no, well your husband was right, I’m so glad he spoke up.

MagicMeese said

If my father were ever to step into a teavana, I have a feeling he would say the exact same thing.

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Liberteas, I have been in and out of the tea field for just over 30 years
The top priorities are educating your consumer,giving your customer’s something for there money, Showing them why they might want to come back, offering them fine service, and treating them very well.

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leafyq said

I have always enjoyed Teavana well enough. I realize now that the Teavana I’ve frequented for a few years is lucky to be a particularly busy store in an area with customers who want to spend money (they are right next to the Apple store I work at, after all). So they’re not half as pushy as many others. Most of the employees make far above their goals without trying. I go there for the flavorful teas that have replaced soda and juice in my life. (I admit it, I’m evil and sometimes I have a sweet tooth!) Honestly, their tea isn’t too terribly expensive compared to others. The idea that they are lower quality than other suppliers is largely a myth.

I’m hoping that Starbucks will be good for them, in helping create more of a cafe experience as opposed to a retail experience and expanding them. I don’t think they will intertwine the brands. I wish they’d drop Tazo completely. Nasty stuff.

Euromut said

You sound exactly like me. I only drink the rooibos and herbal blends there. I like the fact that they mix teas into great combos and give you tasty ideas.

I tried Tazo the other day for the first time and was horrified…

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zazen5 said

I first visited Teaopia about a year ago before it became Teavana at the local mall in NW Calgary. I wasnt drinking tea period at the time, and my wife suggested we get some. I found the teas to be reasonable at Teaopia, and there were plenty of sales, so I bought a bunch. When Teavana acquired Teaopia several months ago I was a bit disappointed. However I found the teas to be higher quality at Teavana than Teaopia. The staff was the same, and I didnt find any pushiness. I did resent that many of the blends that Teaopia had were gone, and yet there were some new blends in addition to a cheaper costing Matcha but still of good quality. I was at Teavana on boxing day after Christmas. Recently there was a DavidsTea that opened in the same mall, but not as many sales there and of course good tea, but I found that I liked the Teavana better. So on boxing day Teavana had 75% off. I went crazy. Wife and I bought $400 dollars of tea for about $100 bucks. I bought a kilo of my morning mate. I told the clerk I wanted 1000 grams and I think she thought this was funny and said the tea would only stay fresh in the sealable bag for a little while. Whatever, I also got some black copper knot tea in addition to my wife’s rooibos purchases. This was a killer deal and the salespeople werent pushy at all. I find that I know more about what tea does physiologically than all of the salespeople I have talked to(thank you google scholar) and dont care about how the taste is really, as long as I know the tea is pure. That copper knot black tea, unfortunately discontinued is the best I have ever tasted period, from Teavana. So I was reading about Teavana after my purchase and found the acquisition from Starbucks. Given that I am from Seattle, I think Starbucks sucks and coffee is overrated crap and really really bad for you. I dont want to drink something that was originally drank by Arabs and grows close to Saudia Arabia. I find that coffee is an extremely negative worthless beverage that causes peristalsis and I really hope that Starbucks doesnt screw up Teavana. However I think maybe if the CEO guy is smart that Teavana might get better if the guy listens to what customers are saying, but I dont know at this point. Im not worried though, there are plenty of tea shops all over Calgary, DavidsTea, Oolong Tea House, Naked Leaf, etc etc, so if it turns out that Teavana starts sucking I wont shop there. Nonetheless I suspect that they will have post Christmas sales still and at which point I will buy pounds of my favorite tea. If they dont, oh well, given that tea is cheap priced for what you are getting Im not worried, Im not like those idiots that buy coffee for $2 or more per cup, my tea averages probably about 10 cents a cup and I stockpile good tea whenever I find it.

There are some racist sentiments in your post that I personally find offensive.

I agree with softrevolution

MagicMeese said

what a…. unique[?] opinion on coffee….

black743 said

Since when did they discontinue copper knot?

is there a way to like report racist/otherwise problematic posts as I find this to be really offensive and not what I want to be reading on Steepster…

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Euromut said

I love Teavana. I know their business model is a bit pushy when it comes to sales but the teas are always fresh and they’ve got a great selection. I’m not crazy about how expensive they are but what are other options? I tried Tazo for the first time the other day and though it was awful. I live near Chicago and finding loose leaf tea distributors is tricky. I’m sure I’m not looking in the right places but as long as Starbucks doesn’t mess with the quality I don’t really care.

momo said

In Chicago you have a TON of options compared to a lot of other major cities: Adagio, TeaGschwender, DavidsTea, The Coffee and Tea Exchange, Chinatown, and do a Yelp search for smaller places.

Euromut said

Thanks for the helpful tips, I’ll check them out.

momo said

No problem! Every time I am back it turns into a tea buying mission too…or someone else who goes can’t come back without picking me up stuff :x

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MagicMeese said

All in all, I believe my opinion of teavana is low because of the pushy attitude they give [I mean, I’m a college student, do I look like I can afford a cast iron tea kettle?] and the over-priced goods. I usually reside in atlanta, and my college is thankfully close to a great local tea shop. They remember my name there even when I haven’t been there in a couple of months.

As for their buy-out? Meh, they can have each other.

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I’m not an expert on tea by any means, but there are some teas that I do like at Teavana. Perhaps that will change in time as I try other retailers (I’ve only tried a handful including Adagio, which is still considered “gateway”).

I hate the experience at the Teavana near me though. It’s not pushy at all the Teavana stores I’ve been at, but the one nearest to me makes me never want to go to the store again.

I’ve never had anyone try to sell me cast iron though… so I guess it could be worse.

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black743 said

Everyone says they found better tea sources than teavana. Could you please tell me where? I adore teas like earl grey creme and youthberry but haven’t found anything close elsewhere.

Uniquity said

I’ve never had Teavana teas as there isn’t one even remotely close to me but I have enjoyed a number of flavoured teas from David’s Tea and get a lot of excellent pure tea from Teavivre and Verdant Tea.

For flavored teas I would say Butiki Tea (http://www.butikiteas.com/), Red Leaf (http://www.redleaftea.com/) and 52Teas (http://www.52teas.com/) are the most popular on here, though I do love Verdant Tea’s Alcemy Blends (http://verdanttea.com/shop/blends/). Larger companies like Adagio and David’s Tea are most similar to Teavana in their selction, I would support the ones above.

Uniquity said

Della Terra Teas is another one that gets a lot of Steepster love though their teas weren’t really to my taste when I tried them a number of months ago. Similarly, 52Teas is very popular here (as mentioned above) and while I love the idea I rarely enjoy the teas as others do. Unfortunately, I frequently seem to have different tastes from the rest of Steepster lately. Best of luck on your tea journey!

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