Souvia Tea Blog

A spot of tea 

ASU Web Devil - Tempe,AZ,USA
Souvia Tea – Since April 2004, Souvia Tea has offered the best in tea leaves and tea essentials. This quaint tearoom shares tea culture from around the …

Bret Wingert, owner of Souvia Tea in Phoenix, is a charter member of Local First Arizona. He said the ubiquitous chain Starbucks blocked his early attempts to open a store.

“Anybody who has started up their own business knows that it’s not easy,” he said. “Starbucks takes over a lot of the retail space and then excludes anyone else who might be in a remotely related business.”

Wingert eventually found a shopping center in North Phoenix and has operated there since 2006.

Winger said Local First Arizona provides great technical and business-oriented information, as well as networking opportunities.

“Also, it’s kind of a support group,” he said. “You could commiserate with people about the problems that small business people encounter.”

As for hard economic times, Winger said he’s “not participating in the downturn.”

“I’m not getting sucked into the negative energy and we’re continuing to do business as we have,” he said. “We all know those unique local places that we love, that we like to go back to, and that’s what Local First Arizona is all about.”

for the full article http://www.asuwebdevil.com/print/node/2389

Local First www.localfirstaz.com

Join Souvia and dozens of other local businesses at teh Local First Festival

Saturday, November 1st

The Annual Local First Arizona Fall Festival is set for November 1st, 2008 starting at 11am.  This will be at the Duck and Decanter at 16th Street and Camelback.

This festival showcases locally owned businesses and is a lot of fun.  There is music, food, stuff for kids, prizes and more.  It is a great way to support and get to know local businesses that make Arizona and Phoenix unique.  Of course, Souvia will be there!

The Back Rub Co. Gives Back, July 20-26
Souvia Tea, Strawberry Hedgehog join Massage Week effort

Each July, the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) sponsors EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week, an event geared towards helping those less fortunate, while raising the profession’s visibility. This year, The Back Rub Company, the valley’s largest on-site massage and wellness firm, has teamed up with ABMP to participate in the program.

From July 20-26, The Back Rub Company will donate 10% of its profits from each massage scheduled at one of their four valley clinics (Central and South Phoenix, South Scottsdale and Mesa) to 100 Club of Arizona. The organization provides assistance to the surviving families of public safety officers and firefighters killed or seriously injured in the line of duty.

“We hope to help the 100 Club as they raise funds to embark on a Hero’s Quest,” says Tiffany Richards, The Back Rub Company owner. “It’s a 3,500 mile bicycle journey from Phoenix to Panama City in an effort to raise at least $50,000 for the families of these real-life heroes.”

The Back Rub Company has also enlisted the help of other Local First member businesses, Souvia Tea, the valley’s premiere tea shop and Strawberry Hedgehog, the Maricopa City-based makers of handmade vegan and eco-friendly bath and body products. Clients will receive a gift certificate for a pot of tea from Souvia as well as a complimentary half-pound jar of handmade bath salts from Strawberry Hedgehog.

“We’re excited to participate in EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week this year,” says Richards. “Anything to help others and educate the community about the benefits of massage is a great thing.”

Souvia Tea was featured in an Iced Tea Segment on Sonoran Living Live on 13 May.  You can see the video on the Sonoran Living site.  Ignore the verbiage about Sun Tea as we did not really talk about that.

Souvia Tea received some nice press in the Arizona Republic today.

It appeared in the Business Section and the Scottsdale Insert

 An Excerpt:

“Judges were impressed by Souvia’s variety of teas, the staff’s knowledge and the Wingerts’ fondness for each other and their business, said Susan Ratliff, president of Exhibit Experts in Phoenix and lead judge for the micro-business panel.

“From the moment we entered the store, we were transported into an atmosphere of uniqueness,” Ratliff said. “I don’t believe any of the five judges had seen anything quite like it.”

Read the whole artice on AZ Central

Part of the Sterling awards was a profile video about Souvia.  You can see it now on Youtube Souvia is about 2 minutes and 30 seconds in…. 

We were honored today with some recognition from the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce!

Scottsdale, AZ – November 8th, 2007:  Souvia Tea “gives customers an experience and is giving java a run for its money”  touted the introduction video at the 22^nd Annual Sterling Awards luncheon in Scottsdale.  ” We are thrilled to receive this recognition as such a small company, it means our philosophy of service and tea culture is getting notice” says Kerstin Wingert, President and Founder of Souvia^® Tea.   The Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce awarded Souvia^® Tea a coveted Sterling Award “Recognizing Excellence, Innovation and Community Involvement”.  Winners of the Sterling award are recognized not only for their Innovative businesses but also for what they give back to the community.    Souvia^®   is recognized for its unique and focused approach on loose tea, its soothing atmosphere, and fabulous customer service.   “It is hard to believe that only 3 years ago Souvia was just an idea” continues Wingert.   Souvia^® supports groups ranging from Arizona State University’s Kerr Cultural Center to Phoenix’s Zoofari.    Previous winners include, China Mist Tea Company, Motorola, and the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy.

Thanks to our customers and KJZZ/KBAQ listeners, Souvia was selected as a Phoenix “Top Shop” in Wavelength Magazine

 Wavelength Magazine September 2007.pdf

As a corporate sponsor of both stations we are glad to the local listeners have given us such postive recognition.   Thank You!