Loki Dokey, a gift store tucked in an alley off Dryden Road, has become a cozy Collegetown escape. However, the business faces financial strains just three months after opening in August due to high rent, import costs and low visibility.
The store was founded and run by Weicher Bi, a second-year graduate student at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She decided to take a gap year at the end of her third semester to start and run her business.
In an interview with The Sun, Bi explained that her own experiences of buying herself little treats to relieve stress as a Cornell student inspired her to open Loki Dokey.
Bi told The Sun that after one and a half years studying at Cornell, she experienced the “pressure” of coursework, internships and jobs.
“And when I have those pressures, I like to buy little gifts to treat myself, like little stickers, pretty notebooks or some little plushies,” Bi said. “So I'm thinking maybe other Cornell students also need something to treat themselves.”
While Bi said that starting Loki Dokey was an “exciting process,” she described the many financial challenges that came with being a small business owner in Collegetown.
“I would say the money I make each month cannot even afford me to live in the dorm at Cornell,” Bi said. “After this experience, I [am] more respectful [of] small business owners.”
Customers also seem cognizant of the financial struggles that come with running a store in Collegetown. Customer Katlyn Moulia ’25 noted that the Collegetown environment makes it difficult for small stores to survive.
“I wish there were more support for small businesses,” Moulia said. “It is definitely really tough, especially here in Collegetown, because of how pricey the surrounding area of Cornell is.”
Bi also links her store’s financial difficulties to broader structural issues in Collegetown. Because most local businesses depend heavily on Cornell students, she said, long academic breaks sharply reduce revenue. Once she factors in all the breaks throughout the year, she is left with only about 230 to 260 days out of the year to operate.
“So I would say it definitely makes it harder for businesses in Collegetown, compared with other businesses, who rely on locals,” Bi said.
High rent and lease terms add to the strain. Bi had considered moving Loki Dokey to the retail space across from Xi'an Street Food, which would be a much better location, but said the rent there was “crazy,” as much as twice what she currently pays. She also pointed to lease agreements that she described as heavily tilted toward landlords.
“The whole paper is asking about what [happens when] I'm doing something wrong and [the landlord] gets and takes my place,” Bi said. “The whole lease is protecting the landlord, and they did nothing to protect the people — the small business who's in that space.”
Import costs have risen as well. Bi said that President Trump’s tariff increases, which went into effect in February, right after she signed her lease at the end of January, sharply raised the price of shipping goods from Asia.
“After [the tariff increases], the price for me to ship everything here increased two times,” Bi said.
Despite the financial pressures, Loki Dokey has gained a dedicated following, amassing more than 300 followers on its Instagram page. The store, named after Bi’s cat, sells “useless but joyful things” such as stickers, plushies, notebooks and other small treats — with most items under $10, according to an Instagram post.
Moulia, one of the first and now regular customers at Loki Dokey, likes to describe the store with “triple C’s.”
“It’s cozy, comfy and cute,” Moulia said. “I always want to go in there, because [it’s] not too overwhelming; there's nice lighting and cozy music.”
Bi said that the Cornell community has been supportive of her journey in starting Loki Dokey.
“At the very, very beginning phase, nobody really knows my store, and [Cornell Asian Pacific Student Union was] willing to post my store on their Instagram story,” Bi said, “It does bring me a lot of traffic.”
CAPSU is an umbrella organization for over 70 different Asian and Asian-Interest groups on campus.
Meiya Lin ’27, the Director of Advocacy in CAPSU, said that she first connected with Bi as a customer and learned about Loki Dokey’s financial troubles while talking with her. Although this was the first time CAPSU promoted businesses in Ithaca, Lin hopes to continue supporting Asian-owned start-ups.
“In the future, if there are startups like Loki Dokey that have trouble reaching a broader audience on campus, we're gonna try our best to help them,” Lin said.
Even with the support from the Cornell community, Bi is unsure of the financial viability of continuing Loki Dokey next semester.
“After I operated for almost three months, I got a basic idea of the average money each customer spends in my store and the return rate,” Bi said. “And I will say even if I got a lot of attention, it's still pretty hard to get this business sustainable.”
Besides financial struggles, Bi said that it will be difficult for her to balance school work, a job search and running the store, since she will be returning from her gap year next semester.
However, Bi said she still wants to keep the business open at least until next semester because she feels a responsibility to her customers and the community.
“I really want to do it for one more semester, because a lot of people come to my store and they said they like it,” Bi said. “I don't want to disappoint them.”
Taehee Oh is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a senior writer for the News department and can be reached at toh@cornellsun.com.
