A boba tea and retail shop will soon debut in the Grand Center Arts District. BoCo Boba (500 N. Grand) is scheduled to open in March at the corner of Olive Street and Grand Boulevard.
The store will be the first brick-and-mortar location for sisters Lily and Luci Clark, who operate the popular mobile tea business of the same name.
Here’s what to know about BoCo before it opens.
The Concept + Menu
BoCo serves boba in a variety of flavors and sweetness levels, Lily Clark says. Popular menu items include the Brown Sugar Milk Tea, the Strawberry Milk Tea, and the Ube Shortbread, which will all be on the brick-and-mortar shop’s opening menu of 15 or so drinks.
“It’s pretty much everything we do on the food truck, but it will be much more customizable,” Lily says. “We’re going to have more flavors, more fresh fruit purées to choose from. So we’ll try to do about 15 flavors a week that will rotate seasonally with what’s in season fruit-wise.”
The Clarks currently source tapioca pearls from Taiwan but hope to eventually manufacture them in the new brick-and-mortar shop. In addition to traditional boba drinks, BoCo customers can try “popping boba,” pearls of fruit purée covered in a seaweed coating.
“I don’t really know how to describe the experience of those super well,” Lily says with a laugh. “We just say it’s like a ball of juice that bursts in your mouth.”
The sisters also plan to serve boba flights, designed to give customers a crash course in the different flavor combinations and levels of sweetness in their drinks.
“When you traditionally think of a flight, you think of, like, five flavors, basically just like a sampling. But we were wanting to do it in a way where it’s different sweetness levels, so you’d pick one flavor, and you’d get four different sweetness levels,” Lily says. “And that’s just so people can get familiar with our drinks and then know when you want to buy the full drink, what sweetness level to ask for.”
Through vending at area markets over the years, the sisters have made friends and connections, Lily says, including with Selma Muminovic of Selma’s Real Treats. BoCo will serve prepackaged versions of Selma’s European-inspired baked goods, including treats such as baklava, cheese rolls, and more. “All of her treats are made with real ingredients and are not super sweet, which is right up our alley,” Lily adds.
The Atmosphere
Leading up to the March opening, the Clark sisters have been hard at work on the shop’s interior. Via BoCo’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, they’ve shared behind-the-scenes photos that showcase a colorful and welcoming space.
“We just tried to keep it really bright. Pink, purples, and blues—that’s the color scheme of the shop,” says Lily. “We’re trying to make this place into our home. So yes, personality is all over the walls.”
From the earliest days of BoCo, the Clark sisters have also sold a selection of gifts and collectibles. What started as an Etsy shop selling boba-themed acrylic pins and mini milk tea-scented candles has now grown into an online store, featuring their handmade work alongside creations from local artists, including Wis-Ange and X. Items include Milk Gloss, a high-shine lip treatment; candles; strawberry milk earrings; frosted sunglasses; boba soap; crossbody purses; pins, keychains; and more.
Such gifts will be available for purchase in Mochi Market, the name of BoCo’s retail store. “On the truck, we have this retail shelving unit that has what we describe as kawaii gifts or kawaii culture goods,” Lily says. “Super cute things, and a lot of it is actually handmade by us or designed by our employees.”
In addition to the selection at Mochi Market, BoCo will feature The Book Nook, a free library where guests can drop off books for others and browse a selection of reads available for everyone.
When the sisters toured the 2,200-square-foot space in Grand Center, located on the first floor of the Metropolitan Artist Lofts building, they knew it had a footprint large enough to house the café, retail store, and book nook. They also love that their landlords at Grand Center Inc. are supportive of the neighborhood’s arts scene, making it a natural fit for BoCo.
The Backstory
BoCo was born after a trip that the Clark sisters took to Taiwan in 2018. Luci instantly fell in love with the tea-based drink, traditionally made with chewy tapioca pearls, and drank one every day on the trip. For Lily, the appeal of boba was the variety of flavors and ingredients, which she craved after returning to the U.S.
“I really like how customizable it can be,” Lily says. “When we were in Taiwan, there were so many options for toppings and flavor combinations. I think when you come back to the U.S., a lot of places use this three-in-one powder. First off, it’s not super great for you, second is not authentic, third, you can’t really customize it to your liking. So something we hoped to do when we came back to St. Louis was have all of those options and to be able to customize your drink and make the flavors from scratch.”
The sisters launched their business in 2021 and, in summer 2022, vended at Julia’s Market Café at Soulard Market. By summer 2024, the BoCo truck hit the streets of St. Louis, vending at farmers’ markets and festivals across town and building a dedicated customer base. This market season, customers can find BoCo at Tower Grove Farmers’ Market every Saturday.
For Lily, who earned her MBA at the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 2022, the brick-and-mortar store also marks her next step as a young entrepreneur. She credits her education at UMSL with preparing her for this path, and she notes that funding and support from UMSL’s Entrepreneur Quest, Cortex’s Square One program, and Food City have helped build the business.
In the weeks leading up to BoCo’s March opening, Lily says customers might see the tea truck parked in front of the brick-and-mortar space to create buzz and excitement—and serve delicious drinks, of course.
Stop by to try Luci’s favorite menu item: strawberry milk with any of the shop’s popping boba flavors.
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