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The owners of Emperor Georgiou’s Tea Room have announced they have permanently closed their shop and gone where no man has gone before.
Well, California, but still.
“Although we are heartbroken to have to say goodbye to this magical place, we will be forever grateful for all of the amazing customers and employees we were able to meet and share it with, the lessons we were able to learn, the friendships we built, and the foundations we were able to create for the next chapter of our lives,” wrote Brendon and Wellington Georgiou in a statement on their website.
The Star Trek-themed tea shop is hosting a closeout sale until 4:30 pm today offering deals on remaining loose-leaf tea and food and a chance for customers to say “Live long and prosper.”
The Georgious cited “ongoing difficulties in making the business financially sustainable” as the reason for the closure. They plan to help support and spend more time with their aging parents in California.
Emperor Georgiou’s Tea Room opened in 2017 and was Black-, queer- and neurodivergent-owned. It started in the Concordia neighborhood, and in 2022 moved to Kenton. As WW noted May 28, the cafe attracted Trekkies, who came from all over for tea and banana drop scones and a chance to wear their Federation uniforms and other cosplay gear.
The Georgious even found some synchronicity in the tea room’s five-year voyage. The Enterprise from the original Star Trek series was on a five-year mission, and their favorite series and inspiration for the cafe’s name, Star Trek: Discovery, just aired the last episode of its fifth and final season.
“In a way, it almost seems meant to be,” they wrote.