Coffee is king. Tea is an also-ran. That’s one storyline that comes out of Starbucks decision to close all of its Tevana storefronts. (Starbucks bought the struggling tea chain in 2012.) That means 379 Teavana stores will close. Most of the Tevana stores are located in shopping malls, which have struggled in the face of a changing retail environment as online shopping has hammered traditional retailers. With fewer shoppers hitting mall anchor stores like Macy’s and JC Penney, fewer shoppers stop by Teavana for a tea break.
But not all retail locations are dying out with the mall meltdown. Starbucks itself, the main brand, is expanding rapidly all over the globe — especially in China where it is adding jobs and stores at breakneck speed.
