Starbucks is paying $620 million in cash for Teavana Holdings Inc., which sells high-end loose leaf teas in 300 shopping malls. The AP reports: "The plan is to expand Teavana's footprint beyond the suburban mall with stand-alone shops around the world, while adding tea bars where customers can buy hot and cold drinks."
"We will do for tea what we did for coffee," Howard Schultz tells the Wall Street Journal.
Bloomberg News: "Tazo Tea, which Starbucks bought in 1999, and Teavana are 'complementary brands' and the company hasn’t yet decided if they will sell both in Starbucks cafes."
Starbucks is paying $15.50 a share -- a 53% premium to Teavana’s closing price on Tuesday.reports the New York Times
* Starbucks has a new caffeine addiction -- tea!
* Starbucks with Teavana moves Howard Schultz beyond his coffee roots
I'm excited! I've been to teavanna and although they do sell their teas as drinks, it's not a focus of theirs and it's rather low scale. If starbucks can turn teavanna into an Argo Tea of shorts I can see this being a big thing and a big competitor for Argo.
Posted by: Mike6545 | November 15, 2012 at 07:17 PM
Teavana is famous in these parts. They have the finest teas you'll ever enjoy.
Posted by: spence | November 15, 2012 at 09:19 PM
i have 2 questions -
1. is anything going on with the gold cards now because for some reason my account says $0 & the serial # is wrong or doesnt exist, it seems like they closed my account for some reason, i guess ill call tomorrow.
2. is the eggnog latte back this year or did they get rid of that?
Posted by: Brian | November 16, 2012 at 03:42 AM
Teavana is famous for all the wrong reasons. Have you ever been to one spence?! Their employees are the worst trained salesmen and saleswoman I have EVER had the misfortune of meeting. Talk about pushy! Worst than even the shadiest car dealers. You walk in just to look and next thing you know they're trying to ring you up with $80 dollars of tea, special tins, 1/2 tablespoon measuring nonsense, etc. Um no, I don't want to buy $80 dollars worth of tea thank you! They might be an ok company if they got rid of the 100% sales commission model, but otherwise the entire customer experience is a nightmare.
Posted by: Laura | November 16, 2012 at 04:09 PM
Is it my imagination or is Starbucks going back down the rabbit hole that got them in trouble a few years back when they laid off high quality people because of poor decisions by senior leaders...if I were an investor in Starbucks stock, I would be concerned. Howard seems to be back to reading his own press clippings.
Posted by: Concerned in Seattle | November 16, 2012 at 11:33 PM
Gosh I'm sure glad someone else is thinking the same thing.
Posted by: TiredofThis | November 17, 2012 at 06:49 PM
I love Starbucks and I love Teavana. But not together. I didn't like this news one bit.
Posted by: Miss Mile High | November 18, 2012 at 06:48 PM
I disagree completely about the customer service at Teavana...I have learned more about brewing tea and never have been pushed to buy anything but what I want. if you are a real tea drinker you go in with an idea of what you are looking for and they let you smell the aroma of the tea before you decide to purchase..unlike coffee you can often get multiple brews out of certain tea types and I learned this from a Teavana sales associate.
Posted by: Totally for Tea | November 22, 2012 at 07:44 PM
its a good idea. Why not? If it is a coffe, then give me some tea; if it is a tea, then give me some coffee. Coffe and tea, actually are two things people drink everyday. So perfect combination.
Posted by: Lyna | December 01, 2012 at 01:53 AM