Teavana up to no good?

[Pentox]

Are the same samples by the door always there?

[Victoria]

Exactly, my manager insists that we tell every customer our favorite type of tea in the store is our monkey picked oolong because it is $25 for 2oz and she even gets upset when we tell customers otherwise

Yikes! Asking employees to lie??

[Pentox]

So what actually is your favorite?

[disillusioned]

The samples are always there as far as favorites go the teavana six summits oolong, the pi lo chuan and the snow geisha are my favorite ones in the store

[disillusioned]

I will be bringing a training manual home tonight so keep your eyes open and get any questions ready this should be fun

[auggy]

We are also told to direct coffee drinkers towards our sample of MateVana and Rooibus chai since it has a coffeeish flavor and a decent amount of caffeine.

Yep, those were the ones they directed SIL to. She really liked the Rooibos chai one. Of course, after I gave her some wonderful darjeeling, some keemun and even some coconut tea, she asked me if I had any tea in bags. So, grain of salt I guess.

[gingkoseto]

Thanks for sharing the insider's story!
I never got interested in teavana and thought their stuff is quite overpriced. Well, I don't blame them for overpricing. In this market economy, even if they get something straight from walmart and sell it for 100 times price, they are not guilty. Whoever willing to buy is willing to pay the price.
But lying to customers and giving wrong information is not acceptable!
What they do is actually all against spreading love of tea among general public. Overpricing, leading customer on to the most expensive tea, misinformation, and telling people to buy expensive tea cans otherwise their tea will get stale soon - all these will make a lot of people think drinking tea is the most expensive and high-maintenance thing.

[brandon]

Two things convinced me to boycott this store within 2 minutes of entering.

First, someone insisted on following me around the store. She was not very knowledgeable about tea. I noticed that most of the teaware was outrageous kitsch, super sized Yixing animal pots and cheap tetsubins sold at a premium. If someone in the store had told me this was handmade, I am not sure I would have been able to contain myself.

When I finally managed to break free of the salesperson, I tried the assam sample in a tetsubin in front of the store. I did not look inside the pot, but I would not be surprised if the leaf was still in there. This was almost too bitter to finish the tiny plastic cup.

The business of following you around the tiny store seems a lot more prosecutorial than helpful. What is the thinking behind this?

[disillusioned]

The business of following you around the tiny store seems a lot more prosecutorial than helpful. What is the thinking behind this?

We are told to follow people around the store because to quote my manager we are not order takers, we are order givers and we are there to tell the customer what they want because they do not know


I mean honestly that sounds like the rhetoric of a dictatorship right there

[Space Samurai]

It certainly sounds like Teavana assumes that your customers don't know anything, and as long as what you pitch sounds similiar to the popular myth (health benefits, low caffiene, better than coffee), no one will be the wiser.

Out of curiousity, I work in specialty foods as well, and I was wondering if Teavana is getting the same beating we are this holiday season.

[Pentox]

Out of curiousity, I work in specialty foods as well, and I was wondering if Teavana is getting the same beating we are this holiday season.

That also makes me wonder about their margins/sales per day/etc.

[gingkoseto]

Out of curiousity, I work in specialty foods as well, and I was wondering if Teavana is getting the same beating we are this holiday season.

That also makes me wonder about their margins/sales per day/etc.

I am curious about these too!
But sadly in reality, sometimes fake, overpriced, phony stuff rules. Combination of high-price, nice outlook and somewhat intimidating temptation is powerful marketing tool for many businesses.

[scruffmcgruff]

In my view, Teavana is all about selling an image, not tea. It's just like all the boutiquey stores that sell items made in the third world ("developing nations," whatever) for 1000% markup; their customers love the idea of having "authentic" ties to other cultures, and will pay dearly for the ability to gloat about it.

I guess I don't think Teavana is *that* bad, as some of their customers probably do like tea, but I get the feeling they cater to the same demographic (pretentious guilt-ridden white people).

[disillusioned]

In my view, Teavana is all about selling an image, not tea. It's just like all the boutiquey stores that sell items made in the third world ("developing nations," whatever) for 1000% markup; their customers love the idea of having "authentic" ties to other cultures, and will pay dearly for the ability to gloat about it.

I guess I don't think Teavana is *that* bad, as some of their customers probably do like tea, but I get the feeling they cater to the same demographic (pretentious guilt-ridden white people).

The big answer here.......Teavana's business is booming. Most of the stores are making and beating there plans for the holiday season. The company is doing so well it plans on opening an additional 100 stores this coming year in the US and Mexico.

[Pentox]

The big answer here.......Teavana's business is booming. Most of the stores are making and beating there plans for the holiday season. The company is doing so well it plans on opening an additional 100 stores this coming year in the US and Mexico.

Honestly that sounds like a bit of corp fluff to me. Not that I'm really doubting the validity of it, but it's not something Teavana is going to have to stand behind since it's what they're telling you. It just sounds like the general "oh we're doing great, love the company" kind of talk.