CATALINA FOOTHILLS, Ariz. (KGUN) — Teaspoon opened its Casas Adobes location back in 2017. Just last month they opened a new location in the Foothills on River and Craycroft.
Teresa Cheung-Valencia, co-owner, said their food comes from their Chinese background, but also her husband’s Mexican background and her sister’s husband’s Polish and German background. Their food, which is mostly made from scratch and sourced from local ingredients, she felt like, was something the Tucson community needed.
“We try to create things that is a little bit of our story. We come from an immigrant family,” Cheung-Valencia said. “A lot of our current customers also live in this area and there has been a lot of people who ask us, hey can you build something closer to us?”
Costs for construction, Cheung-Valencia said, have gone up since they opened their last location.
“I would say three times as much, so it’s a huge significant difference,” she said.
However, the cost of construction is just the beginning. The cost for ingredients to make their food, she said, have also gone up. Ingredients like coffee, eggs, and bacon, she said, have all gone up the most in addition to some of the ingredients they import.
“A lot of those three elements are a core part of breakfast so it really does impact us,” she said.
Food’s inflation rate, the Bureau of Labors Statistics said, went up 1.1% from last August to this August.
The national inflation rate for all products, however, did not go up as much. They said it was 0.4 % higher this August compared to last August. However, they said inflation in every other month this year has been lower.
“Prices have definitely gone up since opening our first location in 2020,” Robin Glicksman explained.
Glicksman is the owner of BB Beauty Lounge. She said prices for supplies, consumables, and pharmaceutical medications like botox, fillers, and medical grade skincare have especially gone up in price.
She recently expanded her business from Pima and Swan and added a new location on Skyline and Swan.
“We’re not a new brand. We’ve been around for five years so some of our clients from the Pima and Swan location are coming here,” Glicksman said.
What makes them unique compared to other medical spas, she said, is the they offer non-invasive alternatives to facelifts and liposuction. They provide multiple options regardless of someone’s age. One of the machines uses pumping technology on the abdomen so someone can develop abdominal muscles, almost as if they did 20,000 crunches.
“We really saw that and wanted to provide more access to quality services that are about longevity, internal and external confidence,” she said.
Lately there have been three new businesses on Sunrise and Swan that have either opened or are in the process of opening.
“Make sure you have the funds to carry yourself for those months that are unexpected,” Cheung-Valencia advised to business owners wanting to expand while Glicksman said, “Stay true to your vision and understand the ‘why’ behind what you do.”
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
