DDi - March 2011 - (Page 22)

22 | Design Snapshot Kusmi seeps in the New York tea craze By Nancy Frick Battaglia K usmi, the elite tea purveyor, was founded in 1867 in St. Petersburg, Russia, by a young man, Pavel Michailovitch Kousmichoff. The family was poor, but by 1901 they owned one of the top three largest tea companies in Russia, later moving to Paris in 1917. In 1996, the Kusmi brand was spotted at the famous Zabar’s, the specialty food retailer on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It was a little pricey, perhaps, but the shoppers were seduced by the Baroque-Orientalist label with Russian references. The tea canisters flew off the shelves and still do, a mix of classic teas and blends, exclusive Russian blends, and black and green flavored teas. Now, in Kusmi’s first U.S. retail location, their 600-sq.-ft. New York store shows off a product line that includes surprise blends that may have green tea, lemongrass, guarana, | Photos: Natalie Blank Tea party liquorice or peppermint. “But it is much healthier,” says Faith Hope Consolo, the prominent retail broker who assisted Kusmi in finding their jewel of a boutique a block north of Bloomingdale’s on Third Avenue. “Kusmi is showing how to tap into a gaining awareness that tea is loaded with antioxidants.” Two brothers by the name of Orebi bought Kusmi in 2003 and opened their first shop in Paris in 2006. Sylvain Orebi, president of Kusmi, manages the brand’s “look” in all locations, most of which are in Europe. Red is a constant color from store to store, and in New York, they went all out with painting a wood floor brilliant red. Product is displayed in crisp, clean, traditional purveyor style. Kusmi alone does not make this a binge—the tea craze is growing in Manhattan. There’s also TeaGschwendner (Rockefeller Center and the Upper West Side), Argo Tea (four locations) and Tea & Honey (Grand Central Terminal). All are adding locations, and U.S. consumers are certainly on the tea-drinking bandwagon. www.ddionline.com March 2011 http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - March 2011

DDi - March 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Greentailing
Editor's Choice
Design Snapshot: Kusmi
Design Snapshot: Avril
Channel Focus: Toy Store
Longo’s
Brown Thomas
11 Retail Trends for 2011
Bloomingdale’s
The Exchange
Lola
White Castle
Design Leaders 2011
GlobalShop
Show Coverage
Right Light
In-Store Technology
Product Spotlight
Classifieds
Calendar
Advertisers
Shopping With Paco

DDi - March 2011