Bubble tea shops in cities across Malaysia have been closing down one after another, as many of them suffer from falling revenues amidst the pandemic.
SS15 (Subang), one of the most popular areas selling bubble tea, is now deserted today with more than half the shops permanently closed.
Once popular boba shops are now covered with “for sale” and “for rent” signs/stickers all over, signalling their permanent closures.
While many shops have closed down, a handful are still operating as usual — mostly notable brands such as TeaLive, Xing Fu Tang, KOI, The Alley, and several others.
While these brands have not been as severely affected as the ones who have closed, most have downsized their operations or merged with other F&B outlets to reduce their overheads.