Courtesy of Bonboni
Owning a business for some people sounds like demanding work, but for St. Louis native Lauren Thorp, it’s a lifelong dream. This October, Thorp will open Bonboni Home & Gift Co. in historic Shaw to sell unique and handmade home goods, along with vintage furniture and finds.
Bonboni’s 120-year-old building was formerly a candy shop, so Thorp chose to name it after the French nickname for candy, bonbon.
Thorp brings many products to Bonboni from independent artists. She also mixes the handcrafted and vintage pieces—sweet-smelling soaps, handmade pillows, a pendant light made from a vintage industrial whisk. In the threshold of the store entrance is a beautiful vintage buffet, which Thorp rehabbed herself.
“I rehab most of the furniture that I bring into the store,” she adds. For the buffet, Thorp stripped the old painted wood, gave it a fresh new coat, then distressed it for a country-chic look. On top of the buffet sit fresh handmade soaps and a collection of antiques that include a vintage camera and a cigar holder from the early 20th century.
Bonboni isn’t Thorp’s first time selling handmade items.
Thorp once moved to the West Coast to launch an online subscription company called Umma Box that curates handmade items from artists around the world. She had investors interested, but owning a tech-startup proved to be grueling work. With the move back to St. Louis, Thorp says she hopes she’ll be able to run a more personal business and balance her home life.
“It was a lot of pressure,” Thorp says. “I was working 18 hour days, and we moved around a lot.” Thorp and her husband moved between Silicon Valley, Las Vegas, and Washington D.C. as per investors’ requests. With the birth of their first child, Thorp decided that she needed more flexibility in her work life. She and her family moved to St. Louis, where Thorp grew up. Thorp’s family resides in St. Louis, and she wanted to be closer to them.
After her startup, making a connection with the customer is of utmost importance to her—especially in times of impersonal corporations. She believes that shopping should be more than just buying; it should be about being in the environment and enjoying the products. “I want customers to be able to picture themselves living [in the store],” she says.
So Thorp plans to host events and DIY workshops, which will also be an outlet for people to connect with each other. Thorp says her main goal is to create a homey feel and an atmosphere that is “more experience-based rather than transactional."
Bonboni is located at 2246 Klemm. Keep up to date with Bonboni by liking their Facebook page and following their Instagram at @bonbonistl.
