Finally, Our Flagship

Hello Boba Guys and Gals,

We promised big announcements this month and here they come!

In addition to our NYC popup, news just broke about our flagship location in Hayes Valley, so we want to clear the air with our fans first. We know the first two stores are a bit smaller than we'd like-- we just never knew it'd take off like this! That is why we're so excited to finally share this with you all. This location will have seating, better ventilation, and all of the bells & whistles that we envisioned when we first started the company four years ago. Our mission is to bridge cultures, so our flagship will be one of the best vehicles to do this.

We also want to publicly say that we are still a small business and we sincerely care about the communities we put our stores in. As many of you know, we quit our full-time jobs earlier this year to pursue our passion. We obviously want to reach more people through expansion, but we have always been transparent about our triple-bottom line approach. It's been in our DNA since our days writing our column on GOOD.

We always tell people, we are a "Company with a Soul." We want to make this world better through food and immersive, cultural experiences. We know there are a lot of opinions out there. In the true Boba Guys way, we want to be transparent and upfront about it. We understand our presence will spur another debate about gentrification, locals vs. transplants, cultural assimilation, and demographic shifts in the city (we are both Asian). We don't have a great answer, but we do know bridging cultures is on the path toward progress.

We never intended for Boba Guys to be a platform for anything other than boba and tea, but over the past four years, we discovered-- through the Nissan commercial, countless emails, and national press-- that we inadvertently stumbled onto something bigger. We may have one of the most diverse, supportive fanbases out there, but we are all united by our passion for a historically-ethnic drink.

We see you all bringing friends to try bubble tea for the first time. We see you at our Union Square store to learn about tea... from a boba shop! We have young and old, techie and hipster, Nicki and Miley, Mac vs. PC-- all waiting in our ridiculously long lines (which we hope to solve by having a much bigger store). We say #‎BallsForAll because food has brought people together for millennia.

So as we head toward the next chapter of Boba Guys, you will see a common theme dialed up throughout our dialogue with you, the public, and even our competitors: bridging cultures. It's not "us vs. them." It's "us AND them." Yes, we're very aware some people think we're "boba for X people." Or we're too hipster because we use Straus organic milk and fancy ingredients. Or we don't respect tradition enough. We don't have any issue with that, per se. We just have an issue when the labels are used as justification for exclusivity, hate, and prejudice. It's all heavy stuff for a little boba shop to talk about, but as long as have a platform, we will use it for good. After all, we once wrote about Chinese-Taiwanese politics-- you can't get more controversial than that! :) 

Here's to bridging cultures and as always, have a nice day and a pleasant tomorrow!
- The Boba Guys (Andrew & Bin)