topic Teavana is closing! in Community Chat

Teavana is closing!

beach-mom — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 21:46:05 GMT

Starbucks is closing all the Teavana stores. I should have seen it coming when they bought Teavana a few years ago. This was my high point of going to the malls around us. I love the youthberry tea!

They will keep the Teavana name and sell the tea in grocery stores by the end of the year. Also, they have entered into a partnership with Anheuser Busch to see the teas in bottles ready to drink. They will also continue to sell some of them in their Starbucks locations. They also cited the fall of mall-based store businesses.

So sad. Good tea.

Re: Teavana is closing!

jaxs mom — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 21:47:43 GMT

Wow, I haven't been to one since we moved a few years ago ( we don't have one here) But I have a lot of their metal canisters and I have ordered online. Are they closing the website too?

Re: Teavana is closing!

Sooner — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:01:14 GMT

THere is a lot of better tea at better prices from Harney, Upton Tea, TeaLux, Stash, cultured cup and others. I hate to see anything like this close though, because there is less available locally and jobs are lost.

Re: Teavana is closing!

Trinity11 — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:05:37 GMT

Sorry to read that. My daughter loves their products. When I pass them in the mall, they are usually crowded. Lots of free samples too.

Re: Teavana is closing!

goldensrbest — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:22:01 GMT

I tried several other teas some mentioned by a poster ,teavanna is much better than those ,i buy on line.

Re: Teavana is closing!

deeva — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:26:32 GMT

I read about this about a week ago. Teavana used to be a great tea store about fifteen years ago. Then they decreased their varieties of plain black teas.

Once Starbucks bought them, that was the end of me being a regular customer.I prefer Harney Tea and Upton Tea.

Re: Teavana is closing!

Moonchilde — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:31:54 GMT

Had several Teavana stores available to me in SoCal. I always felt they were very overpriced. I bought a gift or two for others, but the prices kept me away for myself. I'm only an occasional tea drinker. I never liked the ways the store and the sales personnel encouraged buying 2-3 separate teas to get the combo tastes they had samples of.

If they go into bottled drinks, I hope they make their prices more competitive with other tea-based drinks, otherwise they'll price themselves out of the market a second time.

Re: Teavana is closing!

NickNack — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:37:37 GMT

That is really disappointing. I love their Golden Monkey black tea. I mix it with a couple of others sometimes. I don't know where I'll buy my loose tea now. I can't believe they're closing. There's always people in the store at the Mall.

Re: Teavana is closing!

phoenixbrd — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:59:52 GMT

At the local mall they usually had very few customers and were perceived to be over priced, so this information is not surprising. I was wondering how they were staying in business.

Re: Teavana is closing!

SahmIam — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 23:06:03 GMT

I had no idea Starbucks had bought them but you know, that makes a LOT clear now.

Teavana used to be a HUGE and busy store in my mall. They had a fantastic selection of teas, tea paraphernalia and the employees KNEW their tea trivia. My MIL would buy her tea there when she ran out of PG Tips and loved chatting with manager (MIL wrote a book about tea so, they had a lot to talk about, lol).

I moved away for awhile and when I returned....it was a different store; half the size and far less product. It was no longer busy whenever I stopped by, the selection stunk and the employees couldn't be bothered to help. Couldn't figure out what the heck happened.

NOW I know.

Re: Teavana is closing!

jaxs mom — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 23:38:16 GMT

Surely Starbucks isn't so stupid that they think us tea drinkers will covert to coffee? I won't be. Teavana wasn't the highest end available but they had decent tea.

Re: Teavana is closing!

Sueliz — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 23:41:08 GMT

@Nicknack wrote:
That is really disappointing. I love their Golden Monkey black tea. I mix it with a couple of others sometimes. I don't know where I'll buy my loose tea now. I can't believe they're closing. There's always people in the store at the Mall.

@NickNack, the website is offering 30% to 70% off right now, I have 3 teas that I get from them all the time. I've tried other brands and find Teavana to be the best for what I like. Hoping we'll still be able to order online from somewhere.

Re: Teavana is closing!

sidsmom — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 00:00:15 GMT

Shouldn't be a surprise.

Starbucks predicted this back in April.

Re: Teavana is closing!

NickNack — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 00:12:35 GMT

@Sueliz wrote:
@Nicknack wrote:
That is really disappointing. I love their Golden Monkey black tea. I mix it with a couple of others sometimes. I don't know where I'll buy my loose tea now. I can't believe they're closing. There's always people in the store at the Mall.
@NickNack, the website is offering 30% to 70% off right now, I have 3 teas that I get from them all the time. I've tried other brands and find Teavana to be the best for what I like. Hoping we'll still be able to order online from somewhere.

@Sueliz I've tried other brands, too, and Teavana's Golden Monkey is my favorite. I hope I can find something else that I like just as well. I haven't tried Upton that was mentioned. I have tried Stash and didn't care for the teas that I tried.

Re: Teavana is closing!

hennypenny — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 17:58:10 GMT

Didn't oprah have something to do with Teavana?

Re: Teavana is closing!

sunshine45 — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 00:44:47 GMT

recently came back from a trip to canada.

we went into a DAVIDS TEA store......they had some fantastic selections. brought some home for my daughter to try. we easily spent at least $120 there.

they do have an online store also if you want to check it out.

Re: Teavana is closing!

PinkMomi — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 23:16:52 GMT

Please give Lupicia a try; they have excellent teas from all over

the world, especially Japan. I love their selection and quality much above Teavana's.

Lupicia has the best Green Tea selection I have ever found.

Lupicia is on-line and have brick & motar stores. I'm lucky enough to have a store where I live!

Re: Teavana is closing!

Sooner — Sat, 12 Aug 2017 14:52:29 GMT

If you really like tea (black, green, white or oolong) Upton Tea has a selection that simply blows all the others away. You can order small sample bags and find out what tea you really love. It's a lot of fun. Check it out!

Flavored teas as well as varities: Try Harney tea. They have wonderful teas and beautiful containers at really reasonable prices! They make great gifts too.

My favorite flavored teas? About the only ones I love are Mariage Freres, which you get from Cultured Cup (smaller and cheaper quantities) or Market Hall Foods (in tins from the mfg.) Also Fortnum Mason which you can get from Williams-Sonoma (a few types) or from the company in England but shipping is high.

There's also Tealux, Elmwood Tea (excellent), and others online. Elmwood has some books by Jane Pettigrew (The New Tea Companion is an excellent place to start--by Jane and Elmwood Tea Owner) that are excellent guides to teas and types and how they are made. And of course Amazon!

Re: Teavana is closing!

just bee — Sat, 12 Aug 2017 16:36:22 GMT

@Nicknack wrote:
That is really disappointing. I love their Golden Monkey black tea. I mix it with a couple of others sometimes. I don't know where I'll buy my loose tea now. I can't believe they're closing. There's always people in the store at the Mall.

@NickNack

@Sooner

Like @Sooner, I order my tea from Harney & Sons. Just received an email and there's a 25% off sitewide sale with free shipping.

I haven't tried Golden Monkey, but Harney sells the variety.

Golden Monkey tea comes from the north, in China's Fujian province. It features large black tea leaves interspersed with golden tips. It produces a lightly sweet, and 'round' cup of tea with a nice level of complexity. You'll enjoy the hints of apricot, nuts and rose.

Does this sound like the brew you've been enjoying?

The reviews are favorable, but it's not inexpensive.

Edited to add:

I really should be buying my tea from New Mexico Tea Company. Anyone who enjoys tea should check out their site.

https://www.nmteaco.com/

Re: Teavana is closing!

NickNack — Sat, 12 Aug 2017 17:11:24 GMT

@just bee wrote:
@Nicknack wrote:
That is really disappointing. I love their Golden Monkey black tea. I mix it with a couple of others sometimes. I don't know where I'll buy my loose tea now. I can't believe they're closing. There's always people in the store at the Mall.
@NickNack
@Sooner

Like @Sooner, I order my tea from Harney & Sons. Just received an email and there's a 25% off sitewide sale with free shipping.

I haven't tried Golden Monkey, but Harney sells the variety.

Golden Monkey tea comes from the north, in China's Fujian province. It features large black tea leaves interspersed with golden tips. It produces a lightly sweet, and 'round' cup of tea with a nice level of complexity. You'll enjoy the hints of apricot, nuts and rose.

Does this sound like the brew you've been enjoying?

The reviews are favorable, but it's not inexpensive.

Edited to add:

I really should be buying my tea from New Mexico Tea Company. Anyone who enjoys tea should check out their site.

https://www.nmteaco.com/

Thanks @just bee. I'll try Harney & Sons next time.