Carte Blanche targets young at Whittard

Whittard of Chelsea is continuing its drive to target the young, funky end of the tea market with T-zone, a new retail format by Carte Blanche Design.

The first of the 30 planned new-look outlets will go live on 10 March 1999 in London’s Carnaby Street. It will stock a 100-strong range of own-label teas.

The launch will come within eight months of Whittard’s T-bar, a tea café concept also created by Carte Blanche (DW 14 August). The new T-zone format will not have a café component.

Carte Blanche worked up T-zone’s interiors and identity, which will co-exist with Whittard’s existing corporate identity. Product packaging will be addressed nearer the launch date.

“The [T-zone and T-bar] concepts are related. The T-bar is primarily a café, while the T-zone is geared towards dry sales. Both are trying to take tea away from its traditional stuffy image, to something younger, fun and contemporary. The design of both concepts reflects that,” says a Whittard spokesman.

Meanwhile, Whittard is also looking to extend its existing Baker Street T-bar format to other sites in the New Year.