Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.
Their retail and food items are so incredibly overpriced. Would you pay 20 bucks for a piece of toast and a latte? No? What about 50 dollars for a couple of ounces of exactly what you could find on wholesale tea sites for about a few dollars per pound?
Basically what you support WHEN you support the Samovar brand is their management and admin having their heads in the clouds while their physical workers and supervisors, now having to risk getting COVID-19 as well, bear the brunt of any office politicking or any being in the red while also getting paid the lowest amount possible.
I understand your counter argument, right, "oh it's a San Francisco institution though! We wouldn't have any locality without small chains like these!" And that can't be farther from the truth. Small chains like these and the people who run them are exactly the reason why cost of living in SF is so high, they do nothing for the local economy.
I hope you make an informed purchase.