Tea Forté Debuts on Newbury Street
TEA FORTE’S NEWBURY STREET POP-UP SHOP. / PHOTO PROVIDED
The only company making these patented pyramid-shaped tea infusers is Tea Forté, and now you find them direct from the source on Newbury Street. Tea Forté debuts a temporary pop-up boutique today at 10 a.m., the Concord-based brand’s first ever teashop.
“We’ve been in the market for 13 years, but we didn’t give our customers an opportunity to experience, touch, learn what the brand is all about,” says CEO Michael Gebrael.
That includes the uniquely shaped tea bags, which are designed for optimal infusion and convenience, Gebrael says. But more so, it’s about introducing tea to a wider audience, whether its his luxury brand or the category in general, he says.
“As an industry we need to do a better job educating the consumer about the benefits of tea,” Gebrael says.
The shop will definitely offer samples, as well as a robust marketing calendar to bring people in for different events, he says. On a daily basis, it is a place to buy loose tea canisters and the infusers, tea trays, teacups, and other accessories. There is also an infuser room, where customers can smell the different bouquets.
“We invite people to come in and play with the flavors, but it’s not in your face,” Gebrael says.
The pop-up shop is a precursor to a permanent Tea Forté shop, coming next year to Newbury Street. The design of the new space will provide the aesthetic direction for the future shop, and once this pop-up concludes, elements from it will be used for the brand to pop up in other cities around the world—New York City next, perhaps, Gebrael says.
“We are all about the luxury tea experience, and to do that you have to be careful in the way you choose locations, how you express the brand, and when you go,” he says. “You need the right neighborhood of brands, and we landed these in Boston. That will be a key feature for us in the next opportunity.”
Tea Forté, pop-up at 177 Newbury St., opening in 2018 at 91 Newbury St., Boston, teaforte.com.
