By Harriet Flehinger
Whither goest TeaGschwendner, a high end retailer of rare and fancy teas. Barely six months old, the store is now marked “closed for renovations.” When we called the Chicago store, they said the New York shop had sent all its tea to them and the store wasn’t apparently going to reopen. “Renovation” indeed.
Ahh, TeaGschwendner, we hardly knew ye. And we never really knew how to pronounce yer name. Luckily, fans can still buy the company’s teas at tgtea.com. Perhaps the Upper West Side is more of a coffee kind of town?

Oh no! They had these adorable glass teacups for only $3.50 apiece, but I never got a chance to get them. Not that I ever bothered to try their actual tea….
Thanks for the update on the store! I love this store, and would hate to see it close. It doesn’t seem to me, though, that you’ve provided enough evidence that the store’s closing is “permanent.” It could be that the renovations will take time, and the store does not want to keep tea there, which is perishable and will be damaged by a renovation….
It does appear to be closed, I called both their numbers– disconnected. And the fact that it got taken off their website and it doesnt say closed for renovations is not a good sign. 🙁
Even for the increasingly euro-centric UWS, I thought this was a bit of a stretch as tea is not associated with Germany, at least not yet around here…Would have been better to try a more recognizable brand like Teavana or even Whittard’s of Chelsea (the one in London, at that), but I applaud their effort, it was a nice store for what turned out to be a pop-up. They should fire whoever did their demo survey though.