Plattsburgh couple, 23, to open Kay’Z Bubble Tea shop, Empire Bldg., Glens Falls

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

Kayler Grizzle and fiancé Zack Bushey, both 23, plan to open Kay’Z Bubble Tea in the first-floor, right-hand cafe space of the Empire Theater building, 11 South Street.

“We got the keys yesterday,” Ms. Grizzle told The Chronicle Monday.

It will be their second Kay’Z. They opened the original shop downtown in their hometown, Plattsburgh, two years ago in July, Ms. Grizzle said.

“We do coffee, Boba (or bubble tea), and smoothie bowls,” she said. “We’re hoping to open in mid-May on South Street.”

“We knew we wanted to expand a little bit, not anything crazy, but enough for us to hop around and manage. We grew up going to Glens Falls. We really like the downtown area. We think it’s the cutest ever, with all the lights and everything, so many businesses that we love.”

“It just seemed like a nice fit for us,” Ms. Grizzle said. “The space that we’re going into is amazing.” Landlord Michael Kaidas is likewise “amazing,” she said. “He’s so chill and nice and accommodating.”

The Glens Falls Local Development Corporation last week approved $1,200 to support equipment needs for the shop.

“It’s mostly for Boba,” Ms. Grizzle said. “There’s unique equipment used for it, to seal our cups, to shake our drinks, the tapioca cookers, that kind of stuff.

“Then we have a couple smoothie blenders, because we make every bowl to order. The whole menu is customizable.”

What is Boba? “I always say it’s a drink with a snack in it,” Ms. Grizzle replies.

“You can choose any drink base, you can even do coffee, and then you can put tapioca pearls, popping boba jellies, all sorts of different little snacks in the bottom of the drink.

“You don’t have to add the snack into it, but it’s a fun little change from normal drinks.” You drink it with a wide straw.

Target audience: “Middle schoolers to, like 50-year-olds for the most part.”

Ms. Grizzle says they expect to hire six people, part-time. The space seats 14 inside, eight to 10 outside, they estimate.

The color scheme, as in their Plattsburgh shop, will be bright and pastel-colored, Ms. Grizzle said.

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