PLATTSBURGH — Downtown Plattsburgh has welcomed Kay’z Boba, the first dedicated bubble tea cafe to open, offering the community a variety of tea, coffee, boba and more.
Kayler Grizzle, 21, and Zachary Bushey, 22, began this journey in February 2023 with a road trip across the United States when they visited 20 national parks and “fully explored” 10 states.
They spent at least a week in almost every state on their travels and visited as many coffee shops and boba shops as possible, taking note of their favorite qualities of each.
“The charity wall was inspired by an herb store we visited in Oregon,” Bushey said.
The pair eventually brought their findings home in April 2024 looking to settle down and begin their next chapter.
According to Bushey, their plan upon returning was buying a house and fixing it up, but the estimated quotes were too high and they decided to put their energy and focus on opening up a bubble tea cafe.
LOCATION, LOCATION
Finding a location that was the optimal size and proximity to Downtown Plattsburgh was the hard part.
“We were looking at a space, but the landlord denied us because he thought we were too young,” Grizzle said.
According to Grizzle, they had a location lined up and were about to sign a lease when they found out the space they are located now is available, bigger and closer to the foot traffic.
“We almost signed a different lease, it was so much smaller than this space, and it wasn’t in an ideal location,” she said.
“But this place is perfect. My mom, and her mom, actually worked at a coffee shop here 15 years ago, and the coffee wall used for the charity wall was from the shop here.”
It was next to impossible to get any financial assistance, that a small business loan would not be granted until three to four months after the business had opened.
“We needed the funding to get started but that wasn’t happening so we did it all out of pocket,” Bushey said.
As soon as they had the keys, they began a total renovation on the space to begin building their business.
The grand opening of Kay’s Boba, located at 19 Clinton St., took place during the Clinton Street Block Party in July.
A line stretched out of the door and onto the Clinton Street sidewalk for almost over seven hours during their first official shift.
As soon as the line was short enough to stay inside the building, more people would show up.
BUBBLE TEA
Bubble tea, also known as “Boba,” is a highly customizable tea-based drink that originated in Taiwan.
Bubble tea is typically served in one of two ways, with or without milk, and a choice of tea.
The dark colored pearls seen at the bottom of the drink are called “toppings,” and are usually made up of tapioca and other ingredients.
These pearls often hold the special flavors and will “pop,” in the mouth offering a burst of flavor.
Kay’z Boba menu is available online, and the team is always working on adding new flavors based on customer’s suggestions and feedback.
Everything on the menu can be made decaffeinated.
COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT
Grizzle graduated from Clinton Community College with her associates degree in Business Administration in May 2022, but finished her classes there in 2021.
She then graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a bachelor’s in both Business Administration and Marketing in December 2022.
During her time at SUNY Plattsburgh, she worked on a project for one of her entrepreneurial classes where she had to come up with a business plan and pitch it.
“In one of my business classes, we had a project and what I did was plan a coffee shop,” Grizzle said.
“I asked my entrepreneur professor for help, I interviewed my classmates about what they would want. I had a whole plan in motion, with a supplier and everything I just needed a location.”
Grizzle took several college classes in high school so she could get her degree in 2.5 years.
Bushey attended SUNY Plattsburgh for a year and a half working towards a marketing degree, but when his social media marketing agency (Qvir) took off, he dropped out to focus on that.
“I’ve been working on an online marketing agency for a while now and online work is draining, I wanted to do something more physical,” He said.
“So we said ‘let’s do it, what’s the worst that could happen?’ we are young now, just getting started with life, if we fail it won’t be over, it sounds really cliche but it’s what we thought.”
GIVING BACK
The pair hope to use their new space and business community connections to “give back to the community,” through events, charity donations and more.
“We were also inspired by some events at the places we visited. There was this place we stopped at in Salt Lake City and they were doing an open mic night, we want to host events here regularly,” Bushey said.
“We want Friday and Saturday to be big event days. and more game nights. We want to be super involved with the college and business communities.”
They collaborated with Level Up Electronics to host their first big weekend event Saturday, Aug. 10 with a Mario Kart Tournament.
“We partnered with Level Up Electronics, who supplied the Wii and the game and the prizes,” Grizzle said.
Approximately 20 to 30 people showed up for the event, and eight people competed in the tournament.
Kay’z Boba will host a Back to School Bash during this year’s Lake City Arts Festival. They will have games outside, a bubble machine and chalk for a sidewalk art competition.
“We want to make it as fun as possible,” they said.