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Teavana the cosmetic counter for tea

I finally figured out the business model for Teavana. Have you ever noticed in the mall one entry level of the department stores alway makes you walk through the brightly lite cosmetic counter area. I pity the poor guys whose wifes or girlfriends cant resist. The gals behind the counter do the hard sell. They have to be working on commission. Everything is eye candy. That happened to me this weekend. I just so happened to walk out of a department store and right into Teavana. So I am the guy at the tea cosmetic counter while my wife waits outside bored. Everything at Teavana is set to catch your eye. You cant get to the tea without going through an employee just like the cosmetics. I am jaded as they come when it comes to tea shoppes. I can see why anyone would be smitten. I enjoy the show.

Jim

PS I will say their great selection of teaware is cheaper than anyplace you can find it.

Reply to
Space Cowboy
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We go around and around on this... but I vote with my dollars, and I vote no. I'd rather support the real good guys even if it costs a sheckle or two more. Plus, no way can they beat Kam Man, or Ryu-Mei, or even Border's where with a weekly coupon I can get your beloved (I like them too) Bodum Pavinas for about $6. I just got a chawan from Ryu Mei that is excellent and blows away any prices I've seen anywhere, and I'm supporting a small business owner who is doing things right. I also think you are cherry-picking the few really good deals because there are also shockingly overpriced items and tea as well at that beauty counter.

- Dominic

Reply to
Dominic T.

I like beauty counter better than cosmetic counter to describe Teavana. Dont kill the messenger. Those cheap Chinese mug,infuser,lid you find in the Chinese stores are still cheap in their store. I havent seen a better store with teaware selection and prices. There is a new electric glass kettle with the heating knob in the base that everyone is selling for $50 including them. I feel at home in any store that sells tea. Im no Ebert.

Jim

PS I d> > > I finally figured out the business model for Teavana.

Reply to
Space Cowboy

I might be biased since I'm an IT guy, but I could see how an online- only tea shop would far outweigh the costs and overhead of a brick and mortar store. It's a niche product, there are only a few cities that can sustain one fully. The product is light, ships well, samples are an easy thing to offer to still allow for the customer to see and taste the product... I think it makes perfect sense.

Someone like the Ryu Mei shop catches my eye in that it is a Chinese entrepreneur who decided to take a chance and set up shop in Japan, and do his best to offer low prices and good service. I respect that. I also respect honesty. I will gladly pay double to support someone who deserves it over saving a buck and furthering a cause that is in direct opposition to my values and ideals. It doesn't matter if it is Wal-Mart, Teavana, or Empire Carpet.

- Dominic

Reply to
Dominic T.

I just got a 64bit processor with 64bit Windows Home Premium at my local Best Buy. I go out of my way to support local businesses. I dont even care if I could find it cheaper on the Internet from some guy working out of his basement. Yeah selling tea out of a basement is cheaper than renting mall space. I dont mind paying for sales tax and store salaries besides making MS richer. Everybody has a credit card and Internet access. Wrong. I always look a guy in the eye when he takes my money. I was doing that long before Larry David.

Jim

PS I had the store employees scrambl> ...Im no Grinch but I do buy teas in the discount bins...

Reply to
Space Cowboy

I also support my local tea shop. The storepeople are knowledgable and can give you advice on what teas to select. It is a pity that they only have a few 100 varieties in stock, half of them low quality flavoured teas. There are some good ones in the remaining 100 and I usually have 8 teas out of two dozen "regular picks" in my cupboard. I have tried online ordering, but the shipping costs were not worth it for the quality.

My favourite upgrade is to an Ubuntu Netbook Remix. And I was lucky to buy my EeePC 900 without MS tax. But we're drifting off-topic.

Reply to
Peter Roozemaal

Since you asked. I have two ASUS 900s. One with the Celeron and the other with the Atom processor. Both running optimized Linux for the WeeEee. Chinese characters right out of the box. ASUS is Taiwanese. Somebody from China here told me how to drill down in Vista to turn on Chinese character support. It will be interesting if the ACER 7 laptop comes configured that way. They also are Taiwanese. Every netbook I saw just had Windows 7 Starter. The 7 Home Edition provides neighborhood network support. I have a LaserJet 5p hooked up to NT

  1. That is still one sweet printer from 1995. Vista wont let me get to it because it wont support network 4.0 drivers. So I format Laserjet printer output to a file on Vista. I then do a simple lp from Linux with a neighborhood share on Vista to the printer which I do also as a network share using Linux Samba which doesnt upchuck on driver credentials whatever that is. I guess Ill have to go through the same contortions on 7. My local English tea shoppe has its share of scented teas. Im like a vulture when they unload Chinese or nice bold Indian teas which are still too much tea for most that dont sell.

Jim

PS A 64bit OS > Space Cowboy wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

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