Starbucks Tea only store coming.

[Yeziknoradio]

Starbucks to open specialty tea-only store this fall

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/327133#ixzz1yVSPV8LG

[Darth_vader]

No thanks, I'll stick with Peet's.

[Silkie]

Twinings of London, Bigelow of Fairfield or Bentley's of Boston for me, thank you.

[anotherguy]

I'll take a can of Arnold Palmer's Half Tea/Half Lemonade from my local convenience store. 

[Darth_vader]

Heck, forget cans, I'll mix up my own at the fountain. All sizes of pop, $1 at the local Chevron just up the road from me!* So that means I grab my big 72-ounce plastic cup from Kentucky Fried and have at it.....

___________________________________________
* And a few other places around town that contract with the same beverage company (Corwin Beverage Inc.; they're the Pepsi bottler/distributor for this area, based in Portland.) It's actually a "fountain special" thing that Corwin do, independent of the store actually selling the stuff.

[Yeziknoradio]

In respect to a *Tea only* business, what's their competition out that way?
In my neck of the woods, I think they'd fall flat on their face.

The big winners here (in Canada) seem to be
David's Tea --->  http://www.davidstea.com/
and Teaopia ----> http://www.teavana.ca/teaopia/ (Now Teavana)
Both places are very hard to compete with.
I've seen a few competitors come and go...and now I see the "Teaopia" name has
made an exit.

[Darth_vader]

Mainly Peet's Coffee And Tea out here. Couple stand-alone properties on this side of the Columbia and more opening up in the Fred Meyer (a.k.a. Kroger) stores.

Panera Bread Company (a.k.a. Au Bon Pain) seems to have a decent line of tea as well.

I think there's also a Teavanna down in Portland, but remember, that's also where Starbuck's +AZO brand originated as well. (Used to be an independent brand before it got gobbled up by Starbuck's, as just about everything else coffee/tea related around here within the last couple decades seems to have been.) Not to mention it'd be up against another huge local/regional brand of bagged tea called "Stash" (my personal favourite).......basically, around these parts Starbucks'd be just another tea place in an already nearly oversaturated market.

On the other hand, if Murchie's opened a shop on this side of the BC border I'd definitely be there!

[Yeziknoradio]

I'm not fully aware of how Peet's does business though. Are they Coffee first, with Tea as an after thought?
Is it mass produced tea bags ready for sale to you?
Or do they actually have wall to wall tins of tea that they (Like David's Tea) go all out
to let you sniff before you buy anything?

I've never tried Peet's tea, but when it comes to just tea, I do prefer places that are exclusive to the tea business. (no coffee)
It hints that they may be very serious about selling ONLY the BEST tea.
With no Coffee to back up their income (or maintain it), the logic might be that they have no choice but to have the absolute best tea available for sale.

[kc1ih]

I find Teavana to be mediocre tea at a ridiculously high price. If you are in the Boston area there is Tealuxe http://www.tealuxe.com/ which is also pricy but carries much better quality teas/

[Darth_vader]

I went to a Teavanna in Lincoln, NE a couple years ago (now an empty building) and was not impressed. As a Peetnik, I suppose I had my expectations set a bit too high!

@Yez--

"Are they coffee first

Yes

with tea as an afterthought?

No

Are mass produced tea bags ready for sale to you?

Yes (and loose tea)

Or do they actually have wall to wall tins of tea that they (Like David's Tea) go all out to let you sniff before you buy anything?"

Yes; actually they just have shelf-to-shelf at the one I go to (vertical integration), since it is in a rather small corner space of an oddly-shaped strip mall.

If you've ever been to or ordered from Murchie's, you'd have some idea of what Peet's tea is like. They are both quite high-quality products (can be expensive, depending what you get) and (I think) are comparable enough as to be hotly competitive.