If you've got a taste for beach bellini, raspberry limeade, or other unique Teavana teas, you should stock up on them ASAP.
Starbucks is closing all its 379 Teavana shops across the country over the next year, The Seattle Times reports. The stores haven't been seeing as many sales as expected, so Starbucks is shutting them down in an effort to improve their financial situation.
"Many of the company’s principally mall-based Teavana retail stores have been persistently underperforming, Starbucks announced in a press release on its website. "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." Part of the problem is that malls in general have been seeing fewer visitors lately, Starbucks CFO Scott Harlan Maw said in a statement to Delish.
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In the meantime, Starbucks is turning its attention to its China stores. The number of Starbucks shops in China is growing more quickly than in any country other than the U.S.
Business has also been thriving there: Starbucks saw a sales growth of 6-7% in China — but just 3% in the U.S. — over the past few quarters. There are 2,800 China Starbucks stores at the moment and the brand is hoping to increase that number to 5,000 by 2021.
The good news for tea lovers is that not all Teavana drinks will be gone from our lives forever: You'll be able to buy some of them at Starbucks and at grocery stores. Still, it won't be the same. After the last of the Teavanas close, we may never again have the chance to get free tea samples as we stroll through the mall.
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