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.

On Nov 4, 8:46*am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> 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.

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

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 dont buy ANY tea from a website. I went through a silly period
when I did. Then it was limited to shipping puers from China. Oh you
mean the guy who does business on the web and is too cheap to open a
store front. Yeah right.

On Nov 4, 8:08 am, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> On Nov 4, 8:46 am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> > I finally figured out the business model for Teavana.
>
> 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

On Nov 4, 11:25*am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> 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 dont buy ANY tea from a website. *I went through a silly period
> when I did. *Then it was limited to shipping puers from China. *Oh you
> mean the guy who does business on the web and is too cheap to open a
> store front. *Yeah right.

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

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 scrambling to figure out if I could
update from XP to 7 using the upgrade package. They had some XP
netbooks dirt cheap. No you cant. It also costs the same if you
upgrade netbooks from the 7 starter package to the corresponding home
premium. You figure that would be cheaper than upgrading from Vista.

On Nov 4, 12:24 pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> On Nov 4, 11:25 am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
....Im no Grinch but I do buy teas in the discount bins...
>
> 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

Space Cowboy wrote:
> 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.

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.

> It also costs the same if you upgrade netbooks from the 7 starter
> package to the corresponding home premium. You figure that would be
> cheaper than upgrading from Vista.

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.

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
4. 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 on a 64bit processor was too sexy for me to pass up.
It was just as cheap as XP on a netbook from about a year ago.

On Nov 4, 3:01 pm, Peter Roozemaal >
wrote:
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > 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.
>
> 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.
>
> > It also costs the same if you upgrade netbooks from the 7 starter
> > package to the corresponding home premium. You figure that would be
> > cheaper than upgrading from Vista.
>
> 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.

I've never ordered from Adagio, though I plan to after the holidays. I like the prices better for sure, and people (here, at least) assure me that the quality is better. My boyfriend ordered the ThinkGeek sampler ("Tea, Earl Grey, hot", anyone?), and I'm very pleased with it. I'll give them a shot. I do like the fact that, unlike Teavana, you can order a sample.

I do enjoy some of Teavana's teas (the chai blend (and the white chai), Eastern Beauty, the black pearls and the straight Assam). However, apart from the chai blend and the Eastern Beauty*, I can find all** of them at SpecialTeas (or elsewhere) for much better prices. I don't care much for SuperSpecialAwesome Fruit Blend or whatever.
I will say that I like Teavana's selection of teaware better. I don't see the need for a cast iron teapot or whatever at this point, but I like the washi tins and some of their cups.
What I don't like are the pushy sales tactics--though it seems like the experience varies from store to store--and the high prices.
(I can justify perhaps buying all the teas but the Assam because I can get multiple brews out of them.) I can't really speak to the quality of the tea because I don't have enough experience.