With a bubble tea in mind, Ali Al-Bassam peaked into Boba Suite Tea House and thought it looked like a nice place to relax and read. It was his first time there, and the staff seemed welcoming.

But Al-Bassam, a first-year law student, was not aware the tea house was having trouble raising money to stay open.

‘Hearing about their financial situation is disappointing,’ he said. ‘It’s always sad to hear about a local store in dire straights.’

Since announcing the tea house’s financial difficulties on a Facebook page, Glenda Nunez, the new owner of the shop, said the store’s business has increased. She said she cannot sign into Facebook without seeing the store’s promotional page linked across profiles. Customers who visit the shop regularly have been bringing their friends, including some who have never tried bubble tea.

Boba Suite, a tea house located on South Crouse Avenue, might close its doors if the staff can’t raise $10,000 by April 15. Nunez bought the shop on March 15 and was given one month to pay the previous owners a down payment of $25,000. She has since paid $15,000 out of her own pocket.

To meet her monetary goal, Nunez said the store needs to turn out $1,000 a day. That’s equivalent to about 250 16-ounce milk teas and about 215 22-ounce milk teas a day, she said.

On Tuesday night, Nunez said, Boba Suite not only made its daily minimum, but also ran out of boba balls for about 15 minutes.

Shawn Rose, a senior forestry major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, said he came into the store Wednesday after hearing of its financial difficulties and wanted to help out. He said he knows several others who plan to do the same.

‘I’m going to try to come in over the next two weeks to make sure they stay open until the deadline,’ Rose said.

At this rate, Nunez said the staff will definitely be able to raise the $10,000 in time. The publicity the store has been receiving is beneficial, she said, as the previous owners didn’t focus on advertising or get the store’s name out as profusely.

‘We didn’t know that many people cared or knew about us,’ she said.

Though Unique Tea House, located on Marshall Street, is in close vicinity to Boba Suite and serves similar products, Nunez said it hasn’t affected her business and there is no animosity between the two tea houses. Unique has even lent Boba Suite supplies in the past.

‘Obviously there is competition because we’re two bubble tea houses,’ she said. ‘But each one of us has our own recipes and our different takes on bubble tea.’

Joe Chen, the owner of Unique, declined to comment.

The weather, Nunez said, is another reason business is sometimes slow. When it’s cold and rainy, less people are out walking around Marshall and into the store.

However, Boba Suite’s delivery system through GrubHub has also significantly helped their financial situation.

Nunez emphasized that the root of the issue is the one-month time constraint to raise the money for the down payment. She said she wants people to know that the store is profitable and that poor service and products are not the problem.

The Boba Suite staff is also doing their part to save the tea house, Nunez said. They have even offered to give her their paychecks.

But with the deadline fast approaching, Nunez said there is not much else she can do to raise the money. Utilizing digital media and word-of-mouth advertising will be her best weapons in saving the business.

mjberner@syr.edu 

Published on April 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Maddy: mjberner@syr.edu