Uptown Blends, a specialty beverage business in the mile square area, closed at the end of January after first opening in October 2024.
Elizabeth Siegel, owner of Uptown Blends, said the decision to close was motivated by multiple factors, including the difficulties of building a business around the Miami University student body, leasing realities in Oxford and a desire to spend more time with her family.
“Even though we had a killer semester last semester, like I doubled in sales and everything, I knew that I would need another level of money,” Siegel said. “I felt like I needed to add another element [to] my store.”
Adding additional features to the store meant spending more time away from her family, including her two children, a daughter (8), and a son (12). Siegel said balancing her work and home life was challenging because she felt the business also needed her.
“When we did die down after Thanksgiving break, it kind of just hit me, like, as a mom, I was not present at home,” Siegel said.
She also said her leasing options helped her decide the fate of her business. Siegel’s lease, which will be up at the end of the month, required a three-year contract and an increased fee to keep the space. For Siegel, continuing with her Uptown Blends no longer made sense.
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Siegel didn’t take the decision lightly, especially because of the roughly 10 employees she had working under her.
Claudia Warstler, a senior business analytics major, worked at Uptown Blends since mid-October 2025, but she had been a fan of the business long before that.
“I went in there sometime in my junior year, and that's when I first met Liz, and I continued to go in after that, just because of her amazing energy,” Warstler said. “I really gravitated towards her.”
When she returned to Miami for her senior year, she told Siegel she would love to work at Uptown Blends, and when a position opened up, Siegel hired her.
Another employee, Neah Brown, a senior emerging technology, business and design and fashion double major, has worked at Uptown Blends since last August.
“It’s like a big shift to not have that place anymore,” Brown said, “and it was super awesome to see people come in all the time.”
Brown said she has begun looking for another job. She considered going back to a former position at Miami, but said the pay makes it difficult to justify. She plans to look for other jobs in Uptown Oxford, or possibly a remote work job.
Even though Uptown Blends will soon close its doors forever, the impact that it had will continue. For employees like Wartsler, working at Uptown Blends changed how she sees future employment opportunities.
“The environment and the energy of the people around me in a place of work has moved up on my list of priorities when searching for a job,” she said.
Siegel said she hopes to continue to connect and build on the relationships she made during her time with Uptown Blends.
“I appreciate everybody that I met along this journey,” Siegel said. “It definitely changed my opinion on the generation that's coming.”
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