Did Starbucks blow $620 million on Teavana?Did Starbucks blow $620 million on Teavana?

This post is part of the On the Margin blog.

Starbucks Corp. went on a shopping spree in 2011 and 2012 as it sought to move beyond coffee and into more food and other beverages. 

In 2011, the Seattle-based chain paid $30 million for a small chain called Evolution Fresh, hoping to get in on the health-and-wellness craze.

The next year, it bought a couple of other chains. It paid $100 million for a 19-unit bakery chain, La Boulange Bakery. That same year, it paid $620 million for a 320-unit tea retailer, Teavana. 

So much for those purchases.

Two years ago, the company closed La Boulange, which had grown to 23 locations. 

Earlier this year, Starbucks closed the last two Evolution Fresh stores.

And then last week, of course, the chain shuttered t...