My experience at Teavana.

[Maitre_Tea]

I think this may have the potential to be the longest running thread we have here

[AdamMY]

I think this may have the potential to be the longest running thread we have here

Ehh, Show of your Pots and cups is on edition 12, all but the last one 20 or 25 pages long....

but this might be first for anything out side of Teaware.

[Chip]

lol... well, it is the longest topic that pans a vendor by far.

Heh, perhaps I should do an "Official" Japanese green tea vendor topic on Teavana, now that would be interesting ...

[Maitre_Tea]

I think this may have the potential to be the longest running thread we have here

Ehh, Show of your Pots and cups is on edition 12, all but the last one 20 or 25 pages long....

but this might be first for anything out side of Teaware.

True True, but with "Show Off..." it's mostly just photos and quick comments, nothing really "serious" in terms of discussion...but this thread is constant back-and-forth arguing/debating.

[TubbyCow]

this thread is constant back-and-forth arguing/debating.

Which I love. I don't want soap operas, so if I'm ever in the mood for some drama, I just come on down to this thread and fill up

[LauraW]

Natural medicine and alternative medicine is just medicine that has not been proven to work and does not work.

Please don't take this post harshly, it's not meant to be at all. I simply wish to inform, since I saw something that I felt needed a response.

I've actually done papers on the subject of Alternative Medicine; some of it works. Chiropractors are still considered alternative medicine - and look at how much they a) work, b) are relied upon, and c) are actually required to get degrees and stay current and are well-monitored. Some of the things covered under that very expansive umbrella of "Complimentary and Alternative Medicine" (hereinafter "CAM") work, some don't, some work for different people in different ways. Mostly, why CAM isn't considered "real" medicine is because the FDA doesn't know why it works.

Just throwing that in there. Most of why homeopathy works is because it's all tailored to your specific problems, not some generalized rule that you can sell to the masses. So don't say CAM doesn't work, just because someone tells you "this tea can cure cancer."

[Sumitta]

I have not read all 18 pages of responses, but I am amazed at how sympathetic the responses are. Teavana is a mall business. They make their money by either selling items with a high profit margin or selling large quantities of product. This isn't a small store on the boulevard, but a mall store where the monthly rent is $1500-$4000/month. They also have to pay employees.

The store's mission is to make profit, not sell tea. Tea is just the "widget" that this store pushes. They also hire low cost employees (not to say these aren't wonderful people, but only to value their dollar per hour expense).

A store like this works on a tight budget and if this particular store isn't turning a big profit, then it is staying afloat on a very tight margin. Every free cup of tea is an expense and every sale missed is a loss. The fact that the owners were showing up was crisis management and tensions were high.

It sounds like the owners chose the wrong mall, the wrong managers, and marketed badly to the wrong clients. This frustration destroys morale amongst all levels of a business.

On top of it-- tea is not as popular as coffee. There is not a "starbucks" of tea. There is not a Krispy Creme, Dunkin Donuts equal of complimentary food stores that go with tea. Tea is not Americana.

Those of us that love tea are few in comparison. Places like Teavana need to find those of us who love tea, OR find a better way to convert the ignorant to the joys of tea.

The rest of us tea lovers need to understand that Teavana is a business, not a social movement.

[Geekgirl]

I don't think there's a single person here who is dumb enough to think that a business doesn't need to make a profit. Plenty of stores in the mall who don't treat the (potential) customers like they are all idiots with fat wallets, and their mission is to bleed them dry by any means possible.

[bsteele]

So what exactly is this Tea Vaina place I keep hearing about? Sounds pretty nifty. I think I'll have to visit one some time. Do they have fraps? ZOMG, I like totally <3 fraps 4evur.

[djentropy]

Please don't take this post harshly, it's not meant to be at all. I simply wish to inform, since I saw something that I felt needed a response.

I've actually done papers on the subject of Alternative Medicine; some of it works. Chiropractors are still considered alternative medicine - and look at how much they a) work, b) are relied upon, and c) are actually required to get degrees and stay current and are well-monitored. Some of the things covered under that very expansive umbrella of "Complimentary and Alternative Medicine" (hereinafter "CAM") work, some don't, some work for different people in different ways. Mostly, why CAM isn't considered "real" medicine is because the FDA doesn't know why it works.

Just throwing that in there. Most of why homeopathy works is because it's all tailored to your specific problems, not some generalized rule that you can sell to the masses. So don't say CAM doesn't work, just because someone tells you "this tea can cure cancer."

Not taken harshly at all - And I see your point


However, I don't agree with you - Chiropractic is full of quacks and scam artists. The core theory of Chiropractic has no evidence whatsoever to support it. Chiropractors claim that subluxations, or partial displacements, of the vertebrae cause a perturbation of the distribution of nervous impulses to tissues and cells. Neurophysiologists have developed methods of recording the passage of impulses in nerves. Exceptionally sensitive apparatus is available to anyone wishing to use it. No scientific study has been published on the subject by a chiropractor. No chiropractor has ever defined, either quantitatively or qualitatively, what chiropractic means by perturbation of nervous impulses. It is their number, their amplitude, their frequency, the speed of their propagation, or their wave patterns which are affected? All of these qualities can be identified, recorded, and studied. It is no longer permissible to accept empirical statements. Proof should have preceded practical application. With the first point untenable, the rest crumbles. In pure scientific logic, the argument should not need to go farther than this.

The reason Heomopathy works is called the placebo effect. Water does not have "memory" Hoemopathy does nothing. It's a scam. Sure, people believe in it and practice it, and some people feel better for the experience. Same thing happens when you give someone sugar pills and tell them they are magical healing pills.

Here's a few links that I think are worth checking out if you have some free time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropract ... _criticism

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRel ... homeo.html

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... t-quackery

[djentropy]

So what exactly is this Tea Vaina place I keep hearing about? Sounds pretty nifty. I think I'll have to visit one some time. Do they have fraps? ZOMG, I like totally <3 fraps 4evur.

lol i see what you did there

[horsencl]

The trouble with homeopathy is that it is a general term. I agree with the whole water memory thing. Those guys give the term a bad name. However, that is not all there is to homeopathy. Herbs and plants (including tea) have been used pretty much since the beginning of time to cure illness. In fact, animals do it themselves in the wild

[LauraW]

I do agree that there are definitely those out there who are quacks and scams, but:

The trouble with homeopathy is that it is a general term. I agree with the whole water memory thing. Those guys give the term a bad name. However, that is not all there is to homeopathy. Herbs and plants (including tea) have been used pretty much since the beginning of time to cure illness. In fact, animals do it themselves in the wild

+1. Couldn't agree more here. Yes, certain things might work because one wants them to work and believe that they will... and maybe that works for those people; to be honest, I don't care. But there are things in nature that (as stated above) have been used for centuries and longer - some have even been actually proven to work and we know why (cranberry, anyone?).

So I'm not saying that all of them are gods among men, etc. etc. I've seen doctors that I wouldn't trust with my goldfish, much less my life. I'm just saying that it's not all a bunch of hooey.

[MakeUpGirl]

Wow!

I currently work at a Teavana. And, while my experience hasn't nearly been as hellish as yours, it is none too pretty. All these regulars come in, claiming their love of tea, and how awesome of a job I have. In reality, I feel like stabbing my eyes out with a Perfect Tea Spoon and serving it up as Strawberry Misaki (a new blooming tea).

And the post is as true as daylight. The sales goals are ridiculous. The sales process is less ethical than a seedy used car lot. District Managers can be such a pain in the ass, claiming that if we did our sales process 100% of the time there would be no excuse NOT to reach our store sales goal, which could be a measly $2,500, but when the ENTIRE mall is dead and no one is shopping, can be hard. But no, we are expected to man that f**king sample cart, and entice people into our store, just so they can buy an overpriced cast iron tea pot (a large one, not a small one), a warmer, 5 coasters and 5 cups AND two trays (sushi tray and handled tray) with a bamboo mat to top it off.

I absolutely HATE Teavana and I envy you for having the courage to leave.
Cheers to you! And for you, next time I work I will drop a few ounces of Monkey Picked Oolong on the floor in your honor!


PS: Said District Manager from above couldn't sell a cast iron pot at my location. She admits it herself.

[LauraW]

PS: Said District Manager from above couldn't sell a cast iron pot at my location. She admits it herself.

That makes me laugh. I absolutely love (feel the sarcasm) managers who think they know everything and can absolutely outsell everyone on the planet.... and then suck at it. There's a reason they manage. It's sometimes (definitely not always, there are many exceptions to this) to keep them away from the people who're actually buying things.

Best of luck to you in finding somewhere else to work that doesn't make you want to:

[stab] my eyes out with a Perfect Tea Spoon and [serve] it up as Strawberry Misaki (a new blooming tea).