Tri-Cities newest boba shop has a heart for kids. Spot the hidden Sasquatches?
The Bubbly Boba, the Tri-Cities’ newest independent boba shop, opens Thursday at Kennewick’s Marineland Plaza.
Owners Amanda LaFollette and Brandon Fisher will serve all types of boba tea, from sweet and creamy milk teas to refreshing fruit ones and even a custard topped version in the airy, family-friendly shop, 201 N. Edison St.
Boba takes its name from the tapioca bubbles in the beverage.
For the first month, LaFollette and Fisher plan to get to know their customers and to adapt the menu to reflect their tastes. They will hold a grand opening in June.
Simple coffee is on the menu, as is lemonade and flavored energy drinks. Boba is unquestionably a sweet indulgence, but the owners say there is something for everyone, from youngsters to adults.
All of its milks are nondairy except by request and boba is naturally gluten free.
LaFollette and Fisher, who are a couple as well as business partners, spent three months converting the long empty space near the intersection of West Clearwater Avenue and North Edison Street into a destination for bubbly beverages and a spot to hang out.
Boba on the rise
The duo are first-time business owners who spied an opportunity to bring boba tea to the Tri-Cities about a year ago.
They note, somewhat ruefully, that there were only a few shops at the time. By the time they found a location, secured permits to upgrade it and were ready to open, they had plenty of competition.
Boba Lab opened in February at 4827 W. Clearwater Ave.
They’d hope to open at the same time but were delayed construction and permit issues.
Bubbly Boba is independently owned and caters to customers with children. The child focus is a calling for the couple. LaFollette’s adult son, Jared, works in the shop and helped develop the menu.
And last September, Fisher finalized the adoption of his son, now 9, after being his foster dad for three years.
Fisher said he wants to embed fun as well as support child-focused organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Benton & Franklin Counties through the business.
He designed the 1,400-square-foot space to appeal to children and young visitors. There’s a chalkboard wall and five mythical Northwest Sasquatches hidden in the decor.
Fisher plans to install a work desk along one wall and welcomes high school students to break out their laptops for homework sessions in the store.
Customers are welcome to linger, including those who pick up food from neighboring shops. Bubbly Boba will have some packaged snacks. It is not licensed to cook, though it has ample space to expand in the future.
Yakima, Tri-Cities roots
LaFollette is a Yakima native and Davis High School graduate.
She began working in food service as a teen and liked it so much that she made it her career as an adult. She started with a fast food franchise and worked her way up to district manager.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced her to pivot after 20 years and she found employment in an office. The combination of franchise management and office work left her well prepared to manage a business, she said.
Fisher is a Tri-City native who attended Richland High School as a freshman but graduated from Kamiakin, just up the street from the new store.
After high school, he enlisted with a Pasco tank company and spent 2003-09 in the Army National Guard, deploying twice to Iraq.
As a civilian, he is an HVAC technician and is self-funding the boba business.
He recently took a job that includes regional travel but a fixed schedule that lets him spend weekends at home to work in the shop. His mother recently moved back to the Tri-Cities to help with child care and to support the business.
Marineland Plaza
LaFollette said Bubbly Boba was born when Fisher, realizing she didn’t enjoy office work, asked what she would do if she could do anything.
She told him she had always wanted a coffee shop.
“I told her there are too many coffee shops,” he recalled.
LaFollette persisted. She wanted to create a place where people would gather and hang out.
She’d developed a fondness for boba during regular visits to the west side to visit family. Fisher, who tried it for the first time last year, said it was okay but confessed he’s not much of a tea drinker, bubbly or not.
But he agreed it was hard to find boba in the Tri-Cities and could be an interesting business. He took charge of finding a retail/restaurant spot with reasonable rent. A West Richland spot was promising, but too small and required significant improvements.
Marineland offered the winning combination of size and a landlord willing to replace the ceiling and provide a small budget to construct their improvements.
The couple liked central Kennewick’s mature setting as well.
Bubbly Boba hours are 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday, and noon-4 p.m., Sunday. It is closed Mondays. Follow Bubbly Boba on Facebook.
This story was originally published May 3, 2023 at 8:00 AM.