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Tired of franchises, entrepreneur brings bubble tea to Elora

Owner said the idea for opening a bubble tea shop in Elora came from her teenage daughter

ELORA – Tucked away in a corner of a plaza on East Mill Street in Downtown Elora is a new food business aiming to bring something different to town. 

The owner of Bubble Tea Room isn’t a stranger to the area, it’s Naz Mian a self-described “Fergus girl” who first came to the area when she was five years old.

Mian’s father owns the plaza on East Mill Street which features a few fast food restaurants, a laundromat and a convenience store. Mian said she saw an opportunity to bring something different to Elora in an area she’s experienced in. 

“I’ve always been in the food business, I used to have two Subway restaurants before this,” Mian said, adding they were in Baden and Waterloo.

She said after owning them for eight years, she decided to sell the businesses and start something new. 

“I got sick of the whole franchise thing, that’s why I didn’t do a franchise this time,” Mian said. “I can do my own menu, my own prices.”

She settled on bubble tea, which is a drink usually consisting of tea, creamer, sweetener and chewy tapioca pearls. The drinks can be made in a wide variety of flavours and variations. 

Mian said bubble tea can be a bit strange the first time someone tries it but found she became addicted after a few times. 

Although bubble tea is the focus, the business also sells artisan ice cream, cheesecake, cake and croffles. Mian credited her 15-year-old daughter Aneesa Waseem as being the mastermind behind the idea. 

“Bubble tea is popular, even all my friends were talking about it so I was like ‘it’s a good idea,’” Aneesa said. “Elora is a touristy place and a good area to put one. It’s different from anything else here.” 

That market is what the mother-daughter duo is hoping to tap into, noting there’s nowhere else in Elora to get bubble tea and the large number of Asian tourists who visit the town who don’t don't necessarily see businesses geared towards them.

The first week of being open was a bit nerve-wracking, Mian said, as there’s lots of variations on how you can make a bubble tea although she figured soon it'll be second-nature. 

She said she’s most looking forward to getting to talk with customers and meeting great people as she loves customer service.

Mian said her father has helped her a lot through this and he’s really excited for her. 

“That’s where I think I got my entrepreneurial spirit from, my father and mother,” Mian said.


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Keegan Kozolanka

About the Author: Keegan Kozolanka

Keegan Kozolanka is a general assignment reporter for EloraFergusToday, covering Wellington County. Keegan has been working with Village Media for more than two years and helped launch EloraFergusToday in 2021.
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