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Some months ago I mentioned Starbucks had started opening Tazo stores, and I think I reported they had gone on to purchase Teavana as well. Here’s an update:
M. -
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I’d heard HK’s rent was bonkers. I was never able to “relax” at Starbucks near here. It was relatively small, and the outside seats filled up quick in good weather (we don’t have a habit of table sharing in the U.S.) so when you sat inside you basically sat on top of the grinder. Which was loud. Everyone spoke over it, so the place was even louder. A much more relaxing (quiet) coffee shop I know of is up the road a little ways, and used to be my haunt but they never had very friendly staff unfortunately. These days if I want coffee, the other half and I go to the local Doughnut Connection.
M.
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The real issue is the preference of the crowd. It is a lot harder to sell fine taste than to sell instant glories such as colourful or intensely flavoured dried plants, however low taste quality they are. In a culture where vulgarity, exaggerations and even aggressions are rewarded, and finer sentimentalities much harder to find audience, businesses entities are just going with the tides, however I do not agree with them.
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Where I live (SF East Bay Area) there are bumper-stickers that say, “Friends don’t let friends drink Starbucks.” It is (so far!) a blessing that there are no Teavana stores close to my city, but when I looked at a Google map of McVana locations I felt like they were closing in. Just to see what they had, I looked at their website-their “tea blends” were most alarming to imagine! mediebee, you’re absolutely right! Much more comforting, though, is that in this area there is a strong interest in teas well worth drinking. There are a number of importers of good- to excellent-quality teas here. Some have their own shops where they’re happy to educate & answer questions, as well as prepare teas for customers to sample and enjoy. One of my favorite importers, though they don’t have a retail shop, travels to China every spring to buy rare & artisan teas from small farms & markets. This year they have 48 green teas alone. The founder’s even built his own cave for aging puers-talk about dedicated :-)!
For this among many other reasons, I’m happy to live where I live. May independent tea shops dedicated to quality continue to flourish!
~H.
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I’ve heard mixed things about SF. On one hand, the citizens seem way more open to cultural things and “keeping it real”, for lack of a better phrase. On the other hand, they can be really harsh to people who don’t seem to fit the collective paradigm. I will have to go there one day and see what it’s like for myself.
In any case, I’m not sure how my local Starbucks has tea’d up since the merger, as I don’t frequent the place. There was a (brief) time, but no longer. I think I’d rather not have one of these near by, and the closest thing I have to a “tea shop” in my neighborhood isn’t great.
M.
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mediebee, yes, I’m very fortunate to be here. I’m actually across the bay from SF, in Richmond, a small city just north of Berkeley. MEversbergll, yes, there is a fantastic embracing of cultural & artistic diversity on both sides of the Bay. I think I know the sort of harshness you’re talking about. While I’d say there’s more of it in SF, on both sides of the Bay it becomes more prevalent as the income level rises. It tends to express itself more as a political than social/cultural intolerance.
In any case,yes, I’d encourage you to come scope out the area, especially as regards to tea :-).
~H.
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I miss San Francisco from time to time. I have lived there for 2 years and enjoyed very much the kaleidoscopic food culture there. I guess that is one reason you can find better tea selections there. Sometimes I wonder what is it that makes San Francisco so culturally dynamic that is not presented in most parts of the US, or for that matter, most parts of the rest of the world. What is it that makes a city embrace and celebrate differences?
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I think the roots of that lie in the 1960’s, as the so-called “Hippie” culture concentrated there. Superficial or not, they were people more prone to embracing intercultural exchange. When the culture died, that attitude remained.
Or, I could be wrong – I live something like 3,000 miles from the west coast, in the land of blue crab and stuffed ham.
The modern “hipster” culture was another that was more prone to intercultural exchange, so “hipster” communities (well, former, that culture is also dying) are another place to find such things.
M.
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