BUSINESS NEWS
Coast River Business Journal
Meet the Merchant
June 2021 • 11
Interview by Edward Stratton
your education?
“My parents … they do Tokyo Teriyaki (next
door). They have one in Seaside as well. And
they know it’s a lot of hard work. And they said,
‘We didn’t raise you to be exactly like us. We
want you to grow more.’ So they said, ‘If you
want to do more, do something else, don’t let this
stop you.’”
“I don’t know if anybody’s sure of what
they’re doing. I was never sure of what I wanted
to be growing up. So this is just one of the many
things I can do, because I love working here and
making drinks for Astoria. But I always wanted
to continue my schooling as well. I don’t want
this to stop me from that.”
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HAILEY HOFFMAN/COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
Suen Chang opened Milky-Cha on Commercial Street in Astoria.
Milky-Cha
Suen Chang, owner
1442 Commercial St., Astoria
503-741-3700
facebook.com/Milkychaboba
pretty much my whole life. And when I went to
college at Portland State University, I was more
surrounded by bubble tea options. And right after
I graduated, I came here and thought, ‘There’s no
bubble tea here. Why isn’t there any bubble tea
‘I GREW UP WITH BUBBLE TEA AND
BUBBLE WAFFLES PRETTY MUCH
MY WHOLE LIFE.’
Suen Chang
Suen Chang, 24, recently opened Milky-Cha,
a boba tea and bubble waffl e shop, at 1442 Com-
mercial St. Astoria. The shop is next to Tokyo Teri-
yaki, run by Chang’s parents. Chang graduated with
a bachelor’s in economics before returning home to
open Milky-Cha amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The shop opens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
How did you end up opening the shop?
“I grew up with bubble tea and bubble waffl es
Milky-Cha
here ?’ I told my mom , ‘Hey; you guys should
open one.’ And my mom said, ‘Why don’t you?
You have time because of COVID and stuff .’ After
graduation, my plans just changed completely.”
What happened?
“I didn’t think I was going to go this route. I
was applying for diff erent internships and diff er-
ent jobs. But right as COVID hit, most of them
were canceled. And then I had to move back
home because I lived in the dorms in Portland.
And yeah; I couldn’t stay there.”
Tell us about the shop.
“Every boba shop is diff erent. I have about
fi ve diff erent teas — green tea, jasmine, black.
Black is like the main one. And I have diff erent
toppings. There are a lot of toppings. But I chose
to just do some for now and a little later on I can
open up to new options.
“I specifi cally try not to go to places where
they (do) boba with powders, because I never
really liked the powder stuff . That’s why I make
my ingredients with real fruit and no powders.”
What about the bubble waffl es?
“It takes a bunch of eggs to make. We have
matcha, chocolate, a vanilla-ish version of it. The
bubble waffl es come from Hong Kong. They’re
just like this nice street waffl e.”
What is your long game with this shop and
2240 Commercial Street • Astoria, Oregon
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