Starbucks continues its march to take over all of the world's caffeinated beverages with today's announcement that the coffee chain is shelling out $620 million for the tea chain Teavana. According to a press release, Starbucks not only plans to expand Teavana's mall-based stores, but also add an unspecified new "high-profile neighborhood store concept" to the company portfolio. As CEO Howard Schultz explains in the release, "the tea category is ripe for reinvention and rapid growth."
Of course, Starbucks has long owned Tazo Tea and even announced plans back in June to open a stand alone Tazo tea shop. This is all part of the great Starbucks plan to dominate and "globally transform" the tea landscape, per the release. As Schultz further explains in a blog post today, "Teavana complements Tazo and, in fact, unleashes Tazo to compete aggressively as our premium entry point for consumers seeking an innovative and differentiated tea experience while providing us with flexibility to pursue a two-tiered global tea marketing strategy."
This is just the latest in Starbucks power moves, what with a rapid expansion of coffee shops across the world, its new Evolution Fresh juice bar concept, a vending machine rollout and its purchase of chain of San Francisco bakeries.
· Starbucks Announces Agreement to Acquire Teavana to Globally Transform Tea Industry [Starbucks via WSJ]
· Our Commitment to Tea [Starbucks]
· All Starbucks Coverage on Eater [-E-]
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