There is an inherent issue when it comes to business ideas in China town, and that is if there is a successful one, others scramble to try to copy and get in on the action wanting a piece of the pie of success for themselves. End result? They start the business in the name of fair competition but what they do is end up cannibalize each other for customers rather than opening up businesses to compliment each other. I once counted 13 Boba Tea shops in the Dung Huang Plaza in Bellaire, Sharetea was one of them. Not sure how many of them are still left. The other such place is the Katy Asian Town, where it is pretty much the same phenomenon, except Katy Asian Town is not that as crowed as Bellaire but I can make similar observation to all Boba Tea shops there (few customers in each of the numerous stores).
Stores located in places where landlord exerts better control of / agreement with tenant types tends to do better. I believe Sharetea in Sugar Land on Highway 6 is one example of one where they would enjoy better success overall and in the long run than their Bellaire / Katy Asian Town counterparts.
The location is located in the same plaza as the long time resident Corelli Italian Restaurant and Half Price Books with no other similar business in the same plaza. Place is almost always full of patrons, but not too crowded or hectic unless there is a promotion of some kind going on (like BOGO deals). The store is a franchise, so it does share a menu with other Sharetea locations. One thing when it comes to bubble tea, one tends to stick to one or two favorites or comfort drinks, you might try a different flavor once or twice, but you tend to circle back to your favorites. For Sharetea, I'll have stick to their QQ Happy Family, which is pretty much on the top of their most popular drinks. It has pretty much all the things (like toppings) I like when it comes to Boba Milk Tea, nothing I don't. They have other items on the menu to try, but you never know, you just might be ordering one kind religiously.
If there is one thing I would like to discuss about the difference in American drinks vs. Asian drinks is that the American drinks tends to be way, way too sugary. Step into a Starbucks and ask for a Frap and I swear they must've dumped 4 additional sugar packets in an already sweet drink. When you ask the servers there about it, most tend to look at you with a weird look when you ask for them to make things "not" as sweet. Their operative modes can only process plain without any additional sugar (pre-mixed and already pretty sweet) and any additional pumps of syrup you'd like to add. There is more customization with Boba Tea shops and you tend to be able to ask them to do less sugar (percentage-wise), amount of ice, or the types of milk. Don't get me wrong, they are still sweet, but when you ask for less sugar when you order your drinks, they are not going to blow you off and say that they did, you can actually taste the difference.
There is a reward system for Sharetea of frequent drinkers (I believe 12 drinks ordered gives you a free one) when you enter your phone number. Again, this is a franchise store, what you earn here cannot be combined with those of other locations. Although I'd like to have one even closer to my house, the fact that it is in Sugar Land and I not having to drive all the way to Bellaire for one of my favorite Boba Milk Tea places when there is a craving is still a great plus. read more