Sound the alarms!
It’s the return of the KING and the start of a spicy battle.
A Noms Mag community member (elvissleee & ppuuddles) spotted MACU Tea signs up at Diabetes Plaza, the nickname the Chinese community calls Union Square Shopping Centre.
The red wrap covers unit 1326, the old Pot O’Yogurt, which closed in August.
Molly Tea is right next door.
“WE CAN’T WAIT TO MEET YOU,” the window says.
What it doesn’t say is when. No opening date is posted yet.
If you missed the saga, this one is a comeback.
MACU opened at Union Square in April 2023 as its first North American store.
In early 2026, it closed that shop along with its Burnaby and Robson locations, all within weeks of each other.
The franchisee behind all three reopened them as Alfa Tea, with a mango-heavy menu so close to the original that locals started calling it the MACU dupe. Alfa Tea soft opened in the old Richmond MACU unit in May.
MACU itself never fully left Metro Vancouver.
Kerrisdale kept running, a new franchisee has opened on North Road in Burnaby, and a Coquitlam shop by Coquitlam Centre is on the way.
Who’s running the Richmond return hasn’t been announced.
So here’s where it lands.
The original brand is coming back to the plaza where its replacement still runs out of its old unit – just two stores down.
(The dramaaaaaa!)
And this plaza is NOT short on bubble tea and fruit tea.
Molly Tea opened here in May, TeaByDo, a chain with more than 8,700 stores worldwide, opened in August, and Alfa Tea is already pouring mango.
Honestly, the part I can’t wait for is next summer.
Both menus lean hard on mango, so once mango season arrives, Union Square becomes a straight head-to-head between MACU and Alfa Tea.
Same plaza, same fruit, one walk apart.
We’ll see who wins.
For now, keep an eye on the windows beside Molly Tea for a date.
MACU Tea joins other upcoming Richmond food spots like Suk Hwa Yeon, Trusty Congee King and Lai San Wan Noodles.
For more new and upcoming food spots in Metro Vancouver, take a peek at our tracker here, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Address: 8368 Capstan Way Unit 1326, Richmond, BC (Union Square Shopping Centre, beside Molly Tea)
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