March 01, 2024 / By mobanmarket
HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —Kenny Mai is on the phone with Patch when a customer walks into Mr. Wish on Horsham Road and asks for a milkshake.
The business basically offers fresh, healthy tea beverages, but Mai doesn’t want to let this customer slip away.
So he offers an alternative option to the milkshake: a Strawberry Fruit Sherbert.
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Mai tells the female customer that the drink is similar to the milkshake.
“It’s creamy and blended,” Mai tells the customer, who orders the drink, pays $5.83 for it, and walks out of the shop.
Mai has made the sale. He has also accomplished something, a changing of the mindset.
Mr. Wish is relatively new, having opened at the former Dairy Queen location a little over a year ago at 1116 Horsham Rd.
Mai serves as the manager, supervising two other employees for owner Mary Lu’s store.
Mr. Wish offers natural ingredients in its fruit-infused and milk-based teas, smoothies, macchiato coffee, and other selections. Featured teas include diced fruit tea with apple, pineapple, kiwi, orange, passionfruit, and kumquat.
The business originated in Taiwan and the Horsham location is one of 19 in Pennsylvania. Other nearby Mr. Wish locations are in Warminster, Southampton, Ambler, and Abington.
Last month, the Mr. Wish location in Hatboro closed after less than a year in operation after struggling to find its customer base.
“We don’t know how other stores are doing,” Mai said. “We’re just trying to make everyone brand aware.”
Mai, who has served as manager since the store opened in July 2022, knows that Mr. Wish is trying to find its way in a crowded market. Everyone seems to have some sort of drink these days, he said.
The busy time for the business gets going in the spring, the same time when Rita’s Italian Ice locations open. While Mr. Wish is open during the winter, business heats up between April and September, he said.
“We’re competing with Rita’s, Starbucks, And Dunkin Donuts. Even Wawa,” he said. “It’s definitely tough. There are a few other brands out there.”
“That’s one of the downsides for Mr. Wish,” Mai said. “People tend to lean toward artificial flavoring.”
Mai will work to keep changing people’s minds and get them to try a Mr. Wish product.
“People come in and ask for things we don’t have,” he said. “Since we used to be a Dairy Queen, they ask for ice cream, milkshakes, and hot dogs. We’re always trying to update people about what we have here. That’s all I can do.”
(Photos Courtesy of Mr. Wish Horsham)
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