There’s another change at Richmond’s Union Square.
At this point, there seems to be turnover every single month at the plaza.
This one went dark in the exact corner unit that a rumour has been circling since June.
Binggo, the dessert shop on the corner of Union Square Shopping Centre, shut down in late July.
The plaza it sits in is the one the Chinese community calls Diabetes Plaza, for the sheer density of bubble tea and dessert counters packed under one roof.
The notice taped to Binggo’s door does not read like a permanent goodbye though.
According to the notice, and to the shop’s own WeChat announcement, the team is closing to take a rest, recharge, and prepare for a new larger shop.
Nothing beyond that has been shared.
That’s unusual, as the boss of Binggo has been actively sharing the ups and downs of the business on Chinese social media regularly.
The wording does suggest this is not the end of Binggo in dessert form, and the brand still has a footprint in the same plaza.
Its claw machine and blind box store a few steps away are still open and still running.
The part locals are actually talking about is what happens to the empty corner.
Last month, rumours started circulating that this exact Binggo unit would become Mixue’s first Canadian outpost, and a closure this soon after does the rumour no harm.
Mixue is the Chinese soft serve and drink chain that now runs more than 47,000 stores across 13 countries, which makes it larger than McDonald’s by store count.
Its whole pitch is price, with soft serve going for roughly 30 cents in China and about $1.15 in the United States.
A brand that size choosing Richmond for its Canadian debut would be a genuinely big deal.
There is one thing that argues against it.
The corner unit is small, and a debut store for a chain that runs on volume would be a tight fit in that footprint.
Nothing has been confirmed by Mixue, and nobody has put signage on the glass.
Binggo took the unit in 2025, moving into the space Machi Machi left behind, and built its menu around ice jelly, bubble tea, bingsoo, and ice cream.
For now, the corner is just another empty unit in a plaza that has seen plenty of them.
Binggo joins other recently closed Richmond food spots including Meet Herb, Pot O Yogurt, and LUCA.
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Address: Union Square Shopping Centre, 8388 Capstan Way, Richmond, BC
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