Wichita cafe added west-side location less than a month ago. Now, both shops are closing.
The owners of ICTea — who surprised Wichita on Tuesday by announcing that they’d close both of their locations just weeks after expanding to the west side — say that they’re hopeful their boba shops will continue without them.
I reached out to the owners on Wednesday, and they shared the following statement:
“The outpouring of kind words that we have received, just shows the kind of support we have from the community. Numerous people have been in contact wanting to continue the name, and hopefully we can make that a reality. As for the negative feedback, that’s just a funny way some people show their love.”
The owner declined to share more about the negative feedback other than to say that some local food bloggers’ pages contained some. He also said he did not want to share anything more about his decision to close.
An announcement about the closures posted on ICTea social media pages on Tuesday, though, said that the owners had “decided to pursue other interests.” They plan to keep the shops open through the end of July, the post said, and will still honor gift cards and punch cards until then.
“Our hope is that someone wants to step up and take control and keep ICTea going,” the announcement said, asking anyone interested to send a message on the businesses’ Facebook page.
The first ICTea opened at 3300 N. Rock Road in 2016. In late June, a west-side ICTea opened at 2233 N. Ridge Road.
The east-side ICTea was one of Wichita’s earliest boba purveyors, but the market has been saturated with new boba shops over the past couple of years.
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