Chun Yang Tea, a boba shop in The Axe and Palm (TAP), will close its doors on Oct. 31 following the termination of its lease.
Shop owner Eric Chao franchised Chun Yang from its Taiwan-based parent company. He first opened a location in Sunnyvale before selecting Stanford as the location for his second shop. Chao said the decision cost him $30,000, as he gave up a lease in San Mateo to set up shop on Stanford’s campus.
Now, after the termination of his lease, he finds himself forced to shutter the campus location.
“I was given so many promises, such as catering and a place bustling with students. I had to convince my partners to break the previous lease as well,” said Chao.
Many students expressed dismay at the news of the shop’s closure.
Valerie Gu ’29 and Hudson Sagadevan ’29 both expressed disappointment at losing the shop so soon after discovering it. “I was really looking forward to having a close-by boba shop on campus,” said Sagadevan.
Ashley He ’28 emphasized Chun Yang’s role in fulfilling daily cravings that other options can’t. “I definitely have days where I’m just craving boba and don’t feel like sneaking into an event to get it for free,” she said.
Cecilia Alfaro ’28 said that her favourite memory at the shop is when she won 200 Cardinal dollars as part of a scholarship and got to treat her friends to unlimited boba, followed by Wetzel’s Pretzels.
While Divya Venkat Sridhar ‘28 says she enjoys Chun Yang, she believes the shop didn’t get as much traction as other on-campus drink spots like Voyager, a coffee shop in Stanford’s new CoDa building. Other students were not even aware of the shop’s existence. According to Chao, visibility has been a challenge for the shop, since he was not allowed to advertise and put up signage to the extent he desired.
Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) said that Chun Yang will be replaced by a beer and wine service led by TAP. Starting later this fall, alcoholic beverages will be available to those 21 and over at TAP from 5 p.m. until midnight.
“Many students have asked for beer and wine at TAP because it adds to the sense of fun and community that is such an important part of college life,” said Jocelyn Breeland, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for R&DE. “Beer and wine at TAP also makes socializing more convenient and safer than going off campus late at night.”
Breeland adds that the menu is being reworked to include boba and a new super value cheeseburger. “Our approach is not about replacing existing offerings, but about broadening choices so there’s something for everyone, whether that’s a soda, be it boba tea, a mocktail or a glass of beer with a meal,” she said.
Chao says that had he known about the challenges he would face in operating the shop, he would not have opened the location.
“I trusted Stanford. I thought it was procedural and things would be done the right way. There’s a lot of politics involved and I’m stuck in the middle,” said Chao.
Correction: This article was updated to clarify that age restrictions apply only to TAP patrons purchasing alcoholic beverages.