S04.E08: Tea2Go

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

A tea shop franchise is threatened by a toxic personal relationship between a father and son.

[selhars]

1) A whole lot of people make money with an idea or product they're not passionate about. Are the owners of Teavana passionate about tea? Maybe. I do agree an owner should be passionate about something -- even if it's only money -- and using the product to make money.

2) Producers, again with

3) Marcus, you NEVER want to have "to go" in the name of your business? Signs To Go. Jackets To Go, Rooms to Go?

4) As for the new name "The American Tea & Spice Shop," I honestly do believe if anyone else had that as an already existing name, he's say it was too long.  Some times I do think he changes some things just to have multiple things to change.

5) I was confused at one point (editing?) -- was the kid TRYING to sabotage the business, or stepping up and doing his best to help, because his dad was a do-nothing.

6) So he'll set up all the franchisees that go with him (American Tea $ Spice)  like he did this famly?

Edited October 12, 2016 by selhars

[Primetimer]

Or do the leaves tell Marcus Lemonis to walk away?

View the full article

[krawz555]

What. An ass!  That owner!!  "What if I call you a 'mistake'??"   What the what?? I wanted to kick his stupid head with that stupid hair cut.  The kid is only 23....he doesn't know anything about business but acted more adult than his "dad".  I knew guys like that dad in high school. Screws all the girls, gets one pregnant and runs away like nothing happened. I wouldn't call him dad, either. He pissed me off to no end.

After thisshow was  Marcus's tea business is gonna go through the roof. The other dudes?? Yeah, good luck with that.

[Gregg247]

Jeff was the dumbest guy ever on this show.  He had an insolvent business, $1 million in debt, and yet he managed to get Marcus to buy 70% of the business.  All he had to do was sit back and let Marcus make him some money!  Sure, that's not what he should do, but that's definitely the kind of thing meatheads like him would do.  Instead, he got mad at his long-lost son over his "disrespect" and threw it all away, walking away from his soon-to-be-repaired company so he could spin-off his old failed company as a separate concern again.  WHAT!?!?!  Idiot.

Like with The Simple Greek, Marcus tries to invest in a family run franchise, and ends up taking over the entire enterprise.

Here's the main thing I want to know: How many franchisees actually went with Jeff and his reformulated Tea2Go chain, and how many went with Marcus?  If a single franchisee went with Jeff, then I call BS on this show and how they kept saying how inattentive, hapless, and unsuccessful Jeff was as a franchiser.  According to the way the show presented the situation, only a crazy person would leave billionaire turnaround specialist Marcus Lemonis for Jeff, the clueless business failure.  They had 9 franchisees; how many did Marcus retain?

[Ketzel]

I must say, Jeff must be one helluva salesman, if he was able to keep selling Tea2Go franchises to new franchisees AND  persuade some of the current franchise owners to stick with him instead of with Marcus.  I didn't see any signs at all of him having that kind of charisma and gumption, but [sarcastifont on] clearly he had a bad edit. [sarcastifont off]

[beesknees]

That father was the hugest dick to his son (and a dick in general).  I'm glad the son told his dad the truth about his feelings and their relationship.  The father handled it all so badly (surprise!) and calling his son "a mistake" was some straight up bullshit.  Forcing the son to call him dad with the threat of physical violence if he didn't was truly bizarre.  Just odd.

The term "Dad" has to be earned.  Sperm donor does not equal father.  I know the son was letting the dad pay for his cell phone, car payments, etc. and I have no problem with that because something just tells me that not only wasn't the father around at all the entire time his son was growing up but he prolly never paid a dime in child support either.

I loved that Marcus told Taylor he would pay for him to finish school and make sure he would draw a paycheck when the dad fired him.  Marcus is going to be more of a father figure/mentor to Taylor than Jeff (the "dad") ever was.  Taylor should just work with Marcus after graduation and forget Jeff.

[ketose]

I'm pretty sure Jeff was trying to work a Ponzi scheme and that Marcus was putting too much attention on him. Then his son comes on board and has to deal with the franchisees but has no power to do anything for them. Jeff was even stiffing the tea guy. What are the chances he would keep selling to a Tea 2 Go franchise where Jeff doesn't pay for inventory? Oh, and I bet Jeff charges the franchisees a hefty markup for the tea as well.

[ae2]

From what I can find the American Tea & Spice Shop still has only 1 location. I couldn't find a website for them yet.

Tea2Go still has 10 locations on their website map. Although the Coppell store is one of them, so it is out of date. (Despite their website just having been updated.)

Their Facebook page has several posts from September and August selling their franchise and announcing plans to open new locations. 

[pbutler111]

I was surprised how recently they applied for their trademark.....

https://trademarks.justia.com/871/50/american-tea-spice-87150184.html

Did Taylor ever mention his mother? I hope he at least has a good relationship with her. His dad is someone who wants a fast and easy fix for everything, requiring very little effort from him. If he can't buy a son, then fuck him -- leave him for dead. Pathetic.

[Ketzel]

I'm still puzzled over what happened, legally, between Marcus and Jeff. If Marcus acquired 70% of the business, didn't that include the name Tea2Go? He may not have intended to use it anymore, but why would Jeff be free to go on selling franchises with that name? How did the deal between the two of them get "unwound"? Did Marcus buy the remaining 30% and let Jeff go off with the Tea2Go name and no non-compete agreement?  Or did Jeff get back the 70% with Marcus keeping the one American Tea and Spice location for his money? Why didn't Marcus walk away and open his own line of tea shops -- he had the supplier on-board. (Who is supplying Tea2Go now?)  Or maybe he did -- could he have gotten the family he liked out of their franchise agreement and is now just starting to build a new chain from scratch with them? At least that would explain why the Tea2Go seems to still be in existence.  Have none of the new franchisees with Tea2Go done any due diligence on Jeff? So many questions!

I was at least glad that half the show wasn't dedicated to Marcus playing family therapist to the dad and son. He really doesn't do that well, imo.

Edited October 12, 2016 by Ketzel

[ae2]

32 minutes ago, Ketzel said:

I'm still puzzled over what happened, legally, between Marcus and Jeff.

This is probably the 4th episode this season where I've felt they didn't explain the business situation well enough.

From what I could parse...

All dealings with Tea2Go and Jeff fell apart. Marcus owns none of that business and he did not get any money.

It's possible that American Tea was being setup as an entirely new business entity rather than a renaming of Tea2Go. This would help explain why it was such a bad idea for Jeff to continue selling Tea2Go franchises. (Can anyone find the incorporation records for American Tea? It seems that Texas charges for searching their records.)

The flagship American Tea store that Marcus renovated was previously a Tea2Go franchisee. Presumably, when the deal fell apart, this franchisee broke off any still existing ties with Tea2Go and signed a new deal with American Tea. Marcus offered the same opportunity to other franchisees. But we don't know if he would invest new money help them renovate, or charge them a new franchise fee. At this point it doesn't look like any others have switched over yet.

We don't know whether Marcus has any equity stake in the flagship American Tea store. My hunch is that he made some sort of agreement with them since he dropped $$$ to help them renovate, but I'd like to see this revisited in a future episode.

Any franchisees looking to get out of their agreement with Tea2Go would likely face legal difficulties, possibly non-compete issues, and at the very least, be paying a fee to Tea2Go. This assumes that Jeff was doing things the proper, legal way, and had all his ducks in a row. Since he was using generic document and didn't involve a lawyer, I doubt that is the case. Marcus would probably help any franchisees get out of their old agreement since it's in his best interest for them to join his new company.

The supplier is presumably still supplying to both Tea2Go and American Tea. As long as he is getting paid I don't imagine he cares about how his customers are operating their business.

[sarthaz]

I felt so bad for Jeff. It must be incredibly difficult going through day-to-day life, let alone running a business, with such a tiny penis.

Also, congrats to Marcus on gaining a son.

[selhars]

Quote

2) Producers, again with

From my first post I realized I never finished that sentence….

It was about the producers, yet again, going for the personal relationship drama between the owners or participants. This time: The father/son dysfunction.

Quote

All he had to do was sit back and let Marcus make him some money! 

Jeff was even stiffing the tea guy.

The tea guy was no dummy, he JUMPED at the chance to work with Marcus. 1) I was a true businesman, 2) I bet he went and watched back episodes of the show after he was first approached, 3) He  clearly knows a great business opportunity when he sites it…….cause now he's a minority stake owner of the whole NEW company.

It sounded like the tea guy was on the verge of stopping his supplying of Tea2Go, since they owed him so much money. And he's now a part owner in American Tea and Spice. So while he could keep supplying Tea2Go, why would he? They were 70K in the hole to him before Marcus showed up and put Jeff's nasty attitude on TV. That surely would be product down a hole at this point.

Edited October 12, 2016 by selhars

[Ketzel]

1 hour ago, ae2 said:

The supplier is presumably still supplying to both Tea2Go and American Tea. As long as he is getting paid I don't imagine he cares about how his customers are operating their business.

But wasn't Jeff in debt to the supplier for over $70,000? And didn't the supplier agree to treat the debt as equity in the business in exchange for some unspecified percentage of the business? So why would he be willing to keep supplying Jeff once Jeff destroyed the deal with Marcus? Unless maybe Jeff paid him off from the fees  the new franchises he was selling?

Heh - great minds. I was drafting as selhars was posting.

Edited October 12, 2016 by Ketzel

[Jamoche]

" Lemonis just doesn't want the business to do that"

That and family issues seem to be a theme this year, and it's not compelling television. It's the same problem the US Kitchen Nightmares had - the UK had businesses that were struggling but you still wanted to root for them; the US had ones where you wanted them to burn so their employees could escape.

The promos have him saying something about going after businesses that need help or have great ideas. So far I'm not seeing the great ideas, and the "needs help" ones look more like "beyond help".

[mojito]

Quote

That and family issues seem to be a theme this year, and it's not compelling television.

Marcus thrives on family drama. Always has. This was a better show than the others this season, I think. I can't get enough of seeing the relief on employee/franchisee faces when Marcus announces that change is a-comin'. 

I wish that Marcus would branch out to less mainstream products (didn't he get into custom trailers, or try to?). Like some great "as seen on TV" kind of gadget or a cool software app or something different. I understand why he doesn't, and software apps might not make for good TV. I'm just getting a little tired of the some of these consumables. 

I'm glad that Marcus is sending Taylor back to school. UT Austin ain't an easy place to get into and really, as an employer, I wasn't impressed with candidates who didn't complete the last couple of semesters of a degree. 

[zzzzzzzzzzz]

I'm curious how he could convince banksters to lend him $750K to build out his stores with an unproven product and his complete lack of experience? The guy looks like a goon working for the mafia. And he clearly knows nothing about running a business, nor anything about tea. So how was he able to con people into lending him the $? Mystifying.

[beesknees]

I stumbled upon an "update" site regarding The Profit and what Marcus predicted was correct.  There are two lawsuits against Tea2Go.  One lawsuit suing the father and another against the father Jeff and son Taylor.  Wonder if Marcus is going to help Taylor with advice/legal help now that he's being sued.  

[tobeannounced]

Two words for Jeff - roid rage

[PBSLover]

1 hour ago, mojito said:

I wish that Marcus would branch out to less mainstream products (didn't he get into custom trailers, or try to?). Like some great "as seen on TV" kind of gadget or a cool software app or something different. I understand why he doesn't, and software apps might not make for good TV. I'm just getting a little tired of the some of these consumables. 

Marcus has said on the show and in interviews that family owned American businesses with American made products are the cornerstone of the American economy and that is his interest.  He says he isn’t interested in technology and doesn’t know enough about it to invest.  This is the basis of the show.

Did anyone catch a sighting of Mike from The Simple Greek at the booth at the franchise show?  I did and am surprised since a poster wrote that Mike was gone from the company.

[Amarsir]

So much missing information. In addition to not understanding what the final arrangement is, I have no idea what Jeff thought he gained by breaking with Marcus. Usually the ones breaking off a deal are control freaks, but that wasn't his problem. (Having no passion and no skill at being a father was the problem.) Was it purely so he could get a couple franchise fees in his pocket and then not care if the businesses stay open? Or did he think something was wrong with the new direction? I can't imagine it's the right choice, but understanding would let me know it's a mistake.

One possible clue: Tea2Go has a decently-made website with online ordering. But there was no mention of it during the show. Maybe he's making money off it and Marcus would make him stop? But that doesn't make sense because the business was clearly dying.  I guess we need to see what the other franchisees do.

10 hours ago, pbutler111 said:

I was surprised how recently they applied for their trademark.....

https://trademarks.justia.com/871/50/american-tea-spice-87150184.html
 

The Profit always runs on a very tight schedule. Based on photos uploaded to Yelp, that grand reopening itself seems to have been on August 28. The initial meetings may have been months earlier, but I can believe all the functional changes happened in a very short period of time.

[pbutler111]

14 hours ago, Amarsir said:

So much missing information. In addition to not understanding what the final arrangement is, I have no idea what Jeff thought he gained by breaking with Marcus. Usually the ones breaking off a deal are control freaks, but that wasn't his problem. (Having no passion and no skill at being a father was the problem.) Was it purely so he could get a couple franchise fees in his pocket and then not care if the businesses stay open? Or did he think something was wrong with the new direction? I can't imagine it's the right choice, but understanding would let me know it's a mistake.

One possible clue: Tea2Go has a decently-made website with online ordering. But there was no mention of it during the show. Maybe he's making money off it and Marcus would make him stop? But that doesn't make sense because the business was clearly dying.  I guess we need to see what the other franchisees do.

The Profit always runs on a very tight schedule. Based on photos uploaded to Yelp, that grand reopening itself seems to have been on August 28. The initial meetings may have been months earlier, but I can believe all the functional changes happened in a very short period of time.

It's hard to believe any franchisee would choose to stay with Jeff rather than go with Marcus.  Which one of these two guys is more likely to care about your store succeeding?  If nothing else, follow the money.  

[toodles]

On 10/12/2016 at 1:10 PM, tobeannounced said:

Two words for Jeff - roid rage

I would add the bowl on the head haircut must add to the total dick personality.

[Kiss my mutt]

3 hours ago, toodles said:

I would add the bowl on the head haircut must add to the total dick personality.

Not to mention the frosted tips. 

[beesknees]

I wish TPTB would have Marcus focus more on the business end of things and less on the armchair psychology aspect of it all.

[attica]

Me too. This is The Profit, not The Family Counselor.

[Kiss my mutt]

I agree!  Does every business have to be personally dysfunctional?  At least the furniture store mother and daughter team didn't have personal drama!  That's what I want to see. 

[Amarsir]

16 hours ago, beesknees said:

I wish TPTB would have Marcus focus more on the business end of things and less on the armchair psychology aspect of it all.

I've heard interviews with him where he says it's one of the things he likes doing. (His first appearance on the Shark Tank podcast, IIRC.) I agree that it doesn't do much for me as a viewer, but I think Marcus enjoys being the hero counselor who turns lives around.

[shksabelle]

what a moronic meathead.  I don't buy for a second that he knows anything about managing a business, franchising, or even tea.  I agree with the poster above who called it a Ponzi scheme.  Meathead was setting up his own personal ATMs

[healthnut]

Very interesting episode. It does appear that all the Tea2Go franchises stuck with Jeff which I find unbelievable. The only thing I can figure is the owners didn't want to foot the bill to renovate their stores as the rebranded model. Jeff has a post up on the store's facebook page about editing, being lied to, he's a Christian man, and wishing American Tea & Spice the best. I'm sure editing plays a role, but Jeff is a dick plain and simple. They can't edit you that way if you don't give them the material. I can't believe he asked his son to quit college, there is probably more story there but I'm glad Marcus is sending him back. 

[Josiah Bounderby]

People, tell me...

Is it really easy to sell cheap, untested franchise concepts to wannabe franchisees? Are there lots of uninformed people who are dying to "make their fortunes" running a small franchise business? Because we keep meeting these people on The Profit!

(Like the other posters, I am baffled that mumbly, stone-faced Jeff could sell anyone anything.)

[Josiah Bounderby]

Such a great episode. Jeff is my favorite horrible The Profit personality of all time.

[selhars]

I don't even know what to say about Jeff. If he was unintelligent I'd say he was a knudnick.

But sometimes he was insulting, sometime vicious, some times he seemed lost.

If eel for the franchisees. I'd have asked Marcus to help me get out of my argreement with Jeff. No way in hesll I'm staying with Jeff and passing up on Marcus.

as for Jeff bing horrible, For me he's not even in the same league as  L.A. Dog Works, Marse Florist, or Popcorn Lady, Pete’s Candy (co-owner),  Skullduggery, or Artistic Stitch? Now THOSE were some "interesting" personalities.....

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 10/16/2016 at 9:05 AM, healthnut said:

Very interesting episode. It does appear that all the Tea2Go franchises stuck with Jeff which I find unbelievable. The only thing I can figure is the owners didn't want to foot the bill to renovate their stores as the rebranded model. Jeff has a post up on the store's facebook page about editing, being lied to, he's a Christian man, and wishing American Tea & Spice the best. I'm sure editing plays a role, but Jeff is a dick plain and simple. They can't edit you that way if you don't give them the material. I can't believe he asked his son to quit college, there is probably more story there but I'm glad Marcus is sending him back. 

Right. Jeff posted a semi-literate defense to Facebook in which he threw up the "but I'm a Christian" defense and blamed poor editing for his horrific depiction. The comments are even better.  It looks like some of his franchisees, past and present, aren't very happy. No surprise.  Here's the link:  Tea2Go Facebook

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 10/15/2016 at 1:33 AM, beesknees said:

I wish TPTB would have Marcus focus more on the business end of things and less on the armchair psychology aspect of it all.

You can't really separate those aspects since the basis of the dysfunction in almost all of the businesses he takes on is poor relationships between the business owners/employees, as it is in many struggling businesses. And since most of his businesses are family owned and run, that magnifies it.

Edited October 19, 2016 by RemoteControlFreak

[Amarsir]

One of the FB replies did get me wondering though. Has there been any business that declined Marcus and didn't get an edit that made them look bad?

Some of them were surely as bad or worse than pictured. Skullduggery for example is indefensible. Some may have made bad choices, even if it shouldn't necessarily define them. (Da Lobsta.) But did the Farmgirl Flowers show really need to suggest that she hates men? And ABC Signs - the guy had a profitable family business where everyone was happy. But he admitted his motivation was selling to Marcus's network. And for that the show went out and interviewed a guy who disliked him on Facebook.

Maybe they're all legit and the reason everyone has problems is because the show seeks them out for drama. But surely in the grand scheme there must be good people who would feel that partnering isn't a good idea. Will we ever see any? 

[RemoteControlFreak]

And Marcus is right about the stupid name though he did not articulate the problems well.  To become the Starbucks of tea, they have to be a destination not just for getting a quick drink to go, but for hanging out while drinking more tea, eating food, buying branded mugs, etc.   If that's not a good enough reason, the "2" for "To" is like fingernails on a blackboard. And they had the same thing in the tagline: "Healthy Tea 4 Healthy Living."  What's the justification for this?  If their customers are literate enough to read big words like "healthy," they should be able to read "to" and "for."

Marcus's "American Tea and Spice Shop" is a fine generic substitute that should adapt well to his vision of national franchises.

Edited October 19, 2016 by RemoteControlFreak

[RemoteControlFreak]

9 hours ago, Amarsir said:

One of the FB replies did get me wondering though. Has there been any business that declined Marcus and didn't get an edit that made them look bad?

No and why should it be different?  The purpose of the show is to make Marcus look good. If the deal falls through they have to show that Marcus was not to blame.

[fib]

2 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

No and why should it be different?  The purpose of the show is to make Marcus look good. If the deal falls through they have to show that Marcus was not to blame.

I don't think farmgirl flowers edit was bad.  She looked competent, and professional, but with some weird business experiences associated with being Silicon Valley adjacent that made her a bad fit for the show and for Marcus's deal.  YMMV.  

[Amarsir]

59 minutes ago, fib said:

I don't think farmgirl flowers edit was bad.  She looked competent, and professional, but with some weird business experiences associated with being Silicon Valley adjacent that made her a bad fit for the show and for Marcus's deal.  YMMV.  

The extra footage on the website was less kind. Although I guess that does show a gentler hand in editing than it could have been.

[PBSLover]

They contact Marcus so to decline doing business with him is kind of dumb.  The show has been on long enough to get what Marcus is all about.  He will change a business to make it broadly palatable for national appeal. If a business owner is not willing to change, don’t call the guy.

[seacliffsal]

Just watched the bonus edition of this episode.  I really liked Marcus' updated concept for this business but was blown away by the deteriorating relationship between the father and son.  Interestingly, Marcus brought the son into his business and helped him finish college.  I think the only reason some of the franchises stayed with Jeff is that they just couldn't afford their own make-overs to join Marcus' new company.  However, I always laugh when a business owner states that they want to stay with their original concept "because it works" (according to Jeff).  Well, they wouldn't have reached out to Marcus if they were so very successful to begin with.  As noted at the end of the bonus episode, Jeff declared bankruptcy.