Making Your Business a “Third Place”

Seven Cups Fine Chinese Tea (Photo by Andrew McNeill)

ASTA World Tea Expo panel confirms importance of community

This year’s World Tea Expo featured animpressive group of tea experts from across the U.S. in its MarketplacePerspectives: Real Stories from the Field panel, sponsored by the AmericanSpecialty Tea Alliance (ASTA).

Moderated by Suzette Hammond,professional tea trainer and founder of Being Tea, panelists included JordanG. Hardin, food & beverage director for Alfred Inc., AndrewMcNeill, with Seven Cups Fine Chinese Tea,Cynthia Fazekas, wholesale sales manager for Adagio Teas, JoJohnson, coordinator at A Gift of Tea, Michael Ortiz,Founder/CEO of JoJo Teas, and Noli Ergas of Sugimoto America.

World Tea Expo 2019 (Photo by Salvador Farfan)

One idea discussed by panelistsreferenced sociologist Ray Oldenburg's concept of a place humans need besideswork and home, which Oldenburg refers to as “the third place” in hisinfluential 2000 book, Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories aboutthe "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities. Teahouses, Oldenburg suggests, fall into that category of places that "hostthe regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings ofindividuals beyond the realms of home and work.”

Panelist Andrew McNeill confirmed thatthe concept of “the third place” has been part of the discussion among tearetailers for some time. Seven Cups in Tucson, Ariz., now 15 years old, hasevolved into a gathering place, he said, “providing not only goods, but anecessary social experience.” His customers gather to play mah jong, fundraisefor the local university, and, in the case of one mother/daughter couple, cometogether to simply catch up on each other’s lives, a process that has nowencompassed the daughter’s growth from child to adult.

Another intriguing idea raised bypanelist Michael Ortiz was the tea house as an “intense hospitalityexperience.” McNeill noted that in his business, this means “anticipating yourguests’ needs in a way that may well be surprising to them.” For example, hesaid, the classic Chinese teas that Seven Cups supplies “may be a littleimpenetrable” for some customers, at least at first. His staff is trained toengage the customer about their personal preferences, such as the kind of winethey like, and how they view their personality. Based on this conversation,McNeill said, teas are then recommended, helping to build a bond of trust.

“People want both to be taken care of,and to get something of quality,” he said, “even if, at first, they don’t knowwhat to ask for.”

McNeill praised the panel discussion asa perfect idea exchange opportunity for both participants and audience members,especially those small retailers whose business needs consume most of theirtime. “It can be difficult to find the time to look outward,” he said, butstaying abreast of trends and innovations is vital.

He pointed to Ortiz’s description ofinserting a different, unlisted tea into a tea tasting as a “sniper move” — onethat could well introduce customers to something they had never anticipatedtrying. In the long run, those types of experiences are what make a business atrue “third place.”