A Richmond plaza welcomed two new food and drink stores next to each other in January.
Chinese bubble tea brand HeyTea and Asian-inspired bakery Flour Dance both opened in Richmond's Union Square Shopping Centre at 8338 Capstan Way.
HeyTea took over the former Blackball location while Flour Dance opened right next door within the same week.
Richmond is HeyTea's second Canadian location; the first opened in Burnaby's Crystal Mall in 2023.
From fruit and milk teas to lattes, HeyTea has drinks that focus on 100 per cent real fruit and natural sugar and dairy products.
Its signature is the jasmine green tea with real grapes and a light cheese foam top.
The business idea started in 2011 under the name "Royal Tea" in English, which was chosen to represent "the best tea drinks (the owner) loved" and to be able to share them with everyone, according to HeyTea's website.
Its first store opened in a 30-square-metre space on Jiangbianli Alley in China's Jiangmen City in the summer of 2012.
In 2016, the business rebranded to HeyTea due to trademark registration issues.
Since then, HeyTea has opened more than 1,000 stores globally including in Australia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
There are plans for HeyTea to open Toronto locations soon.
Meanwhile, Flour Dance Bakery is an artisan bread store featuring a variety of Asian flavours.
The bakery's selection of bread ranges from tiramisu cube bread and matcha basque cake loaf to red bean and pork floss loaf.
It also has heart-shaped and baguette-shaped bread.
HeyTea is open every day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with hours extending to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Meanwhile, Flour Dance is open Wednesday through Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m.
🍽 Find more delicious Metro Vancouver food and drink video stories by following V.I.A's Forking Awesome on TikTok and Instagram, and signing up for our Forking Awesome newsletter 📬 delivered fresh to your inbox every Thursday.
📲 Sign up for the Richmond News daily headline newsletter for the latest in the community.
