Following up my own post...

I forgot to add that, when I got home, my niece (not the one who rcmd. Teavana to me) was at our house. She'd hit a deer just a couple of blocks away, really messed up her car, and was quite shaken. A cup of my new, decadent strawberry rose champagne oolong was just the right thing to offer her, and I was so glad that I'd splurged and bought it.

I love the Teavana teas. My daughter was at a business meeting in Boston and they had a break so she went for a walk and saw the tea shop and went in to try it, she never had. She loved the tea so much she decided to buy a pound of it plus a little pot. When she got to the cashier the total was 124.00. She was with her boss so she just paid the bill and was freaking in side, lol. She was figuring about 25.00. Sooooo then I tried the tea and now I'm spending that amount but only once a year for Xmas. It's outstanding.

I also love some of the Teavana blends ; a pound is a lot !! I can imagine her shock at the price, lol .

I like some of their green tea blends, it masks the after taste I don't like about plain green tea. Although I must say I don't drink tea all the time so I'm not a big customer for them, I haven't entered the store in a year.

Maybe we have the same niece?

At Thanksgiving, my niece (from Boston) mentioned she really likes their teas. I had never heard of the brand. Weeks later, I was at my local mall and saw they have a store there so I think "aha! I'll buy her some tea for Xmas."
I didn't end up buying her anything because it was too hard to decide what she might like and, frankly, I was shocked by the price. Since it was a purchase on a whim and something to add to the gift I already had for her, it was more than I had planned on spending.

At my local grocery store they sell loose tea and have a sign that breaks down the per pound price into a per cup cost. That's a very smart idea. I didn't notice anything like that at Teavana, but it was Xmas time and the store was very crowded so maybe they have it & I didn't notice it. I think if they don't have a breakdown chart, they should. It would also help to know that so many ounces of tea would make so many cups.

After seeing the breakdown chart at the grocery store, the cost made more sense and seemed more reasonable but I didn't want to go back near the mall. The problem with buying it at the grocery store is you can't sample them. Next time I get up to the mall, which isn't very often, I might buy some Teavana for myself. The sample blend they offered was really delicious.

They do have very nice tea.

They have horrible customer service. You really have to press them to get the price of the tea. They really pressure you to buy a full pound, instead of a smaller amount. The amount of up-selling they do is rediculous--buy more tea, buy a tea container, buy a $125 tea pot, just because you glanced at one while waiting to be served.

I've visited two different branches of their stores and had a difficult time at both of them trying to get out with just the small amount of tea that I came for. I haven't been there a few years, so maybe they've backed off a little, but I haven't had a single good shopping experience there. Nor have any of my friends. It's sad, in a way, because I'd like to shop there, but they just make it so unpleasant.

If you go, just make sure you are in a mood to just say "no" to all their high-pressure sales tactics.

If you live anywhere near a big city with a Chinatown, check there for tea stores. The prices are generally much more reasonable, they usually will let you sample the tea and I've generally had much more pleasant experiences there.

They say 2 ounces is 25 to 30 teaspoons approximately ; so let's say it's $12,
the full pound would be 96 $ but I would rather sample 3 or 4 different ones in smaller quantities,
I find their tea steeps strong fast so it's potent, I use less than suggested.

In Canada we have David's teas, it's an amazing shop also for the variety.

camlan,
Interesting observation about the up-selling. If I do go back I'll be prepared for that. I was there at Xmas so the store was very busy with customers and what seemed like a ridiculous amount of clerks for the shoebox size of the store. Almost every clerk asked if they could help me so I know what you mean about if you glance at something they notice. I didn't feel much pressure to buy but that might be because the store was so busy they had plenty of other people to help. In their defense, when I did inquire about the price, she didn't try to sell me a pound. But she might have made a sale had she said 4 ounces comes to $25 but will make x number of cups of tea. All I heard was $25 for 4 ounces and thought whoa, I can have 100 cups of Lipton tea for $3.

I read that Starbucks bought Teavana. I wonder if that will change how business is run at Teavana or if Starbucks will carry more tea (they have Tazo now)?

I wonder if tea might gain the popularity in the States that coffee has. My guess would be it's going to increase. I was just reading recently about Starbucks acquisition of Teavana on Jan 1st, so they are now a wholly owned subsidiary of SB. Perhaps Teavana will be showing up all over the place now? ;)

I had never heard of Teavana till a visit to a popular mall with my niece last year. It was an interesting experience. It was around the holidays, busy so difficult to browse. I sampled a few they had brewed, one was ok, the others were "eh". I didn't purchase any tea, but did buy some honey that's good in what tea I do have. I'm not a big tea drinker either, but a new little coffee shop in town is now selling loose leaf teas and on a recent visit one smelled so good I brought a small bag home (I want to say 4 oz and it was about $10). It made me think perhaps a second visit to Teavana and their much wider selection might be warranted.

Which leads to something interesting I found. (I was googling out of curiosity to find out more about loose leaf teas.) One of my first hits was a blog about tea. The blog immediately links to a different site (see below) that details sales tactics from a former employee. Interesting read. It's long and contains a lot of one-sided personal details. However the paragraphs under "Training" explain how certain teas and accessories are promoted (or not) and the path customers are steered through the store & why. It's business, and they're in business to make money. But there is an advantage to the consumer knowing some of that info for any future visits, especially for those of us who are not tea connoisseurs.

Here is a link that might be useful: sales tactics

Moonshadow--

I read your link--what an awful experience that poor employee had! Now I'm not sure I'll ever go in there again. So sad and ironic that tea, which is healing and relaxing, is used to stress out employees and wring every possible penny from customers. Someone should open a competing business, serving wonderful, high-quality teas in a tranquil environment with a genuinely helpful approach toward customers. I bet such a business would do very well.

Now I want to try it! And once again reminded that I live in a hick state ( and love it) but NC, GA, TN all have quite a few stores except SC which has none.

I sometimes go in and browse at all the interesting things and I really like their German Rock Sugar. The teas are very expensive for the most part and I find the up-selling a total turnoff. Maybe that will change after *$ gets a better foothold.

My British friends would be simultaneously horrified and amused to know that tea is becoming trendy (and somewhat deceptively marketed, it would appear) here in the states. ;-)

I've never heard of Teavana. I avoid the mall so that could explain it. LOL I will have to google and see if there are any in my part of TN. Although after reading some of these posts, not sure it's a store I want to visit.

tina

I know there are countless places to buy tea - brick and mortar stores and online - but I've had consistently good service and amazingly delicious tea from Koni Tea. Their Creme Earl Grey is especially good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Koni Tea

Personally, I hate teavana and I've never even been in one. At our local mall they stand outside and grab passersby, and it's like trying to get away from a timeshare salesperson. If I forget it's there I get reminded when I get near because all the foot traffic suddenly moves as far as possible to the other side of the mall.

Another Teavana non-fan here...sorry folks. That store is a complete rip off. We are big loose tea drinkers and I buy my tea by the pound at a local gourmet store. I generally spent about $27 for a pound of their wonderful lapsang souchong. I was initially intrigued by Teavana and did stop by a store. Once in the store I was taken to their well equipped back counter to see what kind of tea they had. I was given a sniff of something that did have a lovely aroma. I asked the price and she gave me a long story about the cost per cup or some kind of confusing nonsense. I think it was also impossible to buy anything less than a pound or at least, the saleslady was pushing larger quantities of tea. Asking for smaller amounts I was made to feel like a cheapskate.

So, how much was a pound then? Close to a hundred bucks. I'm sorry. Is there gold dust mixed with that? I apologized to the sales lady. I must have misheard her, but no. There wasn't anything wrong with my hearing. I thanked the woman for her help and was pretty nice about it, but I simply wasn't spending that kind of money on tea. Uh uh. No way.

I must say also that those cast iron tea pots are more for looks than practically imo. I'll take my nice ceramic teapot that cost fifty cents at a garage sale over those any day. Seriously. I am in good shape but I wouldn't use those tea pots for the same reason I avoid cast iron cookware of any kind. It's just not worth the muscle strain.

I really disliked my experience there. Their efforts to promote a fetishization of tea and all the accoutrements is a little silly. We drink gallons of tea brewed from loose tea leaves and there's simply no way I could afford to do that at Teavana prices.

Elitist tea.

::chuckle::

;-D

Well I have to say I'm a tea fancier and, in all my travels, I have never tasted tea so incredible as Teavana's. It doesn't taste anything like the tea we think of as tea, it's much more exotic with the most luscious hint of berry and sweet melons and ginger and on and on, so complex and so delicious. I also love the container it came in, of course that's part of the price. I only have a cup about once a week as it's so dear and one cup takes at least three teaspoons of tea plus the ritual of brewing it takes some time but, to me, it's my little guilty pleasure.