Michael Cramer, Adagio Teas founder:
Brian Keating, founder of Sage Group consulting in Seattle:
Charlie Cain, a principal and executive consulting with Building Oz:
Cain, who was Teavana’s vice president of concept development and franchising through January 2015, explains that “Teavana's success was as a novelty gift shop in high-traffic, Class A shopping malls. New stores saw dramatic early sales results, but sustained sales growth beyond seasonal gifting required consumers to shift their tea purchasing from the local grocery store to the regional mall. That’s not a behavior we see happening consistently in any other specialty food or beverage industry.”
Cain specifically identified DAVIDsTEA and other brands that might have been blocked out of the best locations by Teavana’s non-compete clauses with landlords. DAVIDsTEA competes with Teavana locations in 19 U.S. and 38 Canadian malls.