Goodbye, Teavana: Starbucks To Close 379 Tea Stores

SEATTLE, WA - Say goodbye to the free tea samples at the mall. Starbucks will close its close to 400 Teavana retail stores by next year. The closures will eliminate more than 3,000 jobs, but Starbucks says it will offer Teavana employees jobs at Starbucks locations.

Starbucks called the Teavana stores "persistently underperforming" in a statement issued to investors on Thursday:

As reported on the Q2 call, many of the company’s principally mall-based Teavana retail stores have been persistently underperforming. Following a strategic review of the Teavana store business, the company concluded that despite efforts to reverse the trend through creative merchandising and new store designs, the underperformance was likely to continue. As a result, Starbucks will close all 379 Teavana stores over the coming year, with the majority closing by Spring 2018. The approximately 3,300 partners impacted by these closures will receive opportunities to apply for positions at Starbucks stores, as Starbucks remains on track to create 240,000 new jobs globally and 68,000 in the U.S. over the next five years.
Financial Targets

Starbucks bought the Teavana brand in 2012 for $620 million. The brand was founded in Atlanta in 1997 as a sort-of tea version of Starbucks.

There are multiple Teavana locations at malls around Puget Sound:

• Tacoma Mall
• Bellevue Square Mall
• Southcenter Mall
• Alderwood Mall
• Pacific Place
• University Village

Image via bargainmoose/Creative Commons