Hoping to match Starbucks Coffee Co.’s success in selling premium priced coffee, teas and blended drinks, an El Segundo firm plans to open a chain of teahouses nationwide.
The chain, to be called Cup N Saucer, will be a wholly owned subsidiary of WorldNet Resource Group Inc., a publicly held company. WorldNet aims to open its first teahouses in June, with 50 of them operating by yearend.
“We are not trying to be a quirky teahouse,” said Stephen Brown, president and chief executive of WorldNet. “We believe that, through aggressive marketing, a product that is popular around the world can have much more of a mass appeal in the United States.”
Brown said that the company is final negotiations for several locations in the South Bay. Cup N Saucer will also have outlets in San Francisco, Washington, Seattle, Chicago and New York.
The company hopes to win over coffee drinkers by converting existing coffeehouses into Cup N Saucer stores. Each 500- to 2,500-square-foot conversion will cost between $10,000 and $50,000.
Customers will be able to choose from at least 50 different types of tea, including fruit flavors. No coffee will be served.
As at each store location, bulk teas will be available through CupNSaucer.com, which will also offer such accessories as teapots and cups. In addition, the Web site will point users to the chain’s closest store location.
Patrick Schumann, a consumer analyst with the investment research firm Edward Jones in St. Louis, said that tea is an enormously popular product worldwide that has been gaining popularity in the United States during the past few years.
“There is some potential, but breaking through to a mass market will be challenging,” said Schumann. “The slowing economy could also cut into high-price tea and coffee sales, but so far there are still enough people willing to pay a premium price for a cup of coffee or tea.”
Brown explained that WorldNet is looking to tap into that market by launching the chain nationwide. “This venture falls perfectly into our continuing business model of accumulating and developing immediate cash-flow properties,” he said.
