The Well Coffeehouse is being rebranded as Bocopop, says new owner Steven Kelly.

Kelly bought the assets of the popular Liberty Lake coffee shop and eatery, located in nearly 1,000 square feet of space at 21980 E. Country Vista Drive, in July when previous owner, Natalie Gauvin, was liquidating following fallout from pandemic-related, government-mandated restrictions. He continued to operate under The Well name for the first few months as part of an agreement with Gauvin.

“We wanted to give The Well a nice sendoff,” he says.

Incorporated as Bocopop Inc., which is short for boba, coffee, and pop, the shop plans to shift its focus toward becoming a premier coffee and tea shop, featuring specialty boba teas. Popular in Asia and metropolitan U.S. cities, boba teas, also called bubble teas, are growing into a “pretty massive industry,” Kelly says, adding that the shop offered a little-advertised boba-tea tasting that attracted 70 people.

He says Bocopop will continue to serve food, but not to the extent The Well did so.

Kelly and Bocopop general manager Christian Chau are the company’s only employees currently.

Gauvin says of Kelly, “I think he’s going to do great things in Liberty Lake.”

She first opened the shop in 2016 and decided to sell it in August 2019, then moved to liquidate its assets after COVID-19 related shutdowns.

Since selling The Well, Gauvin has become a real estate broker with Century 21 Beutler & Associates, working out of the company’s office in downtown Spokane. She’s licensed in Washington and plans to become licensed in Idaho soon.