Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/123507
STASH TEA PORTLAND PATRICK PROCTOR, VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS DEVIN KELLY, RETAIL STORES OPERATIONS MANAGER S CAFÉ S ROAD S CROS BY DAN LEIF photos by CYNTHIA MEADORS tash may be known primarily for its boxes of bagged tea that line supermarket shelves across the country, but since the company's inception in 1972, it has also offered a wide range of loose-leaf offerings. In 2005 Stash opened a small retail space at its suburban headquarters in part to help showcase that product line, and last November the company made a major retail leap, opening a merchandise-heavy tea bar on Portland's hip Mississippi Ave. Company reps say they hope the new shop is the frst of several urban spaces that can help lift the brand from grocery to gourmet. DEVIN KELLY Q: After 40 years in the business, why did Stash decide the time was right to launch a standalone retail shop? P atrick Proctor: We had been talking about doing this for several years. We get the comment all the time: "We didn't know you guys had loose-leaf teas." Well, actually when we started in 1972, loose leaf was all we had. It's a broader identity that we have to offer, and that's what this project is focused on. While a lot of companies of all kinds are moving more toward e-commerce and away from brick and mortar, the tea industry and companies in it are not shying away from that retail experience. Seeing that was a motivator. D evin Kelly: We want to educate you and tell you the story of the company and the teas. The more we can share that outside the grocery culture the better. A disconnect happens as soon as a product lands on a grocery shelf—it's almost like the thinking is, "It must come from a bad place." Q: DK: Your shop has very little seating; the focus is on the dozens of teas at the bar and then the brewers and other products you sell. What is your strategy with that layout? We are already starting to make slight adjustments and adding a little more seating, but we did want to use that very valuable square footage to show off that extensive teaware line. I'm amazed how much teaware we have. That was really missing here in Portland. There seemed to be one vendor that worked with everyone, while we have over 200 teapots and 100 different brewing accessories and all these pieces we wanted to show folks. continued on page 26 24 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com