TO ACCOMPANY FEATURE STORY SINGAPORE-RETAIL, 2001-08-01 (photo)

A Singapore employee of the popular 'Quickly' franchise shops displays a "Bubble Tea" drink, a concoction of tea, flavoured with fruit syrups and topped off with chewy tapioca balls. Choice Gourmet, which owns the franchise for the Taiwan-based chain, set up 17 stores over two years and has been selling S$1.5 million to S$2 million ($830,000 to $1.1 million) worth of their heady brew per month in the first half of this year. In a city of fads and fashions grappling with economic downturn like so many countries across the globe, the chain's success shows how Singapore is staving off the recession blues with a touch of retail therapy. JD/RCS