The English Shop: Food & Gifts From the U.K. in Historic St. Charles

There are a lot of places I like to shop on Historic Main Street in St. Charles, Missouri. First Capital Trading is one of them. The Cozy Shop is another, as well as Main Street Books and Under the Yellow Umbrella.

One of my favorite shops — because of all the novel items it carries — is The English Shop. This shop, located in a house on Main Street, is filled to the brim with all kinds of British foods, tea, tea sets, English Premier League fan gear, jewelry, pop culture icons, and even kilts. It’s one of my preferred spots to pick up specialty tea and British snacks.

Getting There

The English Shop (Google Maps link) is located at 423 S. Main Street in St. Charles, MO, 63301. It’s in the heart of the St. Charles Historic District, which includes Historic Main Street, and is located right along the Missouri River in St. Charles City. The most common way to get there is to take Interstate 70 to the Fifth Street Exit, then head north before making a right on Boone’s Lick Road, which takes you right into the district. Alternatively, you can approach Main Street from the north by way of 370 at the Third Street Exit, then take a roundabout onto Second Street, which takes you right up to the district.

Parking

You can find parking all up and down the area around Main Street and the streets around it. My favorite parking spot is one block to the east of Main Street, on Riverside Drive. There are decent-sized lots up and down Riverside, from the north end by the Foundry Art Centre (Google Maps link) to an array of lots across from Frontier Park. If you’re willing to walk, you can also find an expansive parking lot on the south end of the area next to the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Museum (Google Maps link). In addition, there is a long line of parallel spots on Riverside itself.

There’s also parallel parking closer to The English Shop on Main Street. Main Street can be busy with cars and foot traffic, though, so it’s not my first choice. Obviously it is for some people, since you’ll regularly find cars parked there.

Most parking in and around the historic district is free. If you’re having trouble finding spots to park — which can happen during festivals — St. Charles has an app for that.

Costs and Considerations

The English Shop is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The shop accepts credit cards among other forms of payment, but it does not accept Discover credit cards, so make sure you have other options in hand when paying.

Because everything here is imported, costs tend to be higher for some items such as certain teas and snacks. Considering that this is one of the few places in the St. Louis area to buy these kinds of products — outside of, perhaps, Global Foods Market in Kirkwood — I feel like the cost is worthwhile.

In recent months, I’ve paid $10.69 for a box of 80 PG Tips tea bags, which comes out to about 13 cents per tea bag. I’ve also bought boxes of loose leaf tea that run $10 to $15 for roughly 4.5 to 9 ounces, depending on the variety.

I also recently paid $4 for a 4.9-ounce package of Jammie Dodgers biscuits (cookies), $5 for a package of Rowntree’s Randoms gummy candy, and around $8 for a cookie baking mix.

There are a good number of fragile items in The English Shop, including tea pots, tea cups, and various dishes. Keep that in mind if you are shopping with young children.

Also, The English Shop has signs posted throughout the store asking customers to refrain from taking photos, especially near the snacks and sports fan gear. With all the cool things here, it can be hard to not to want to snap a few photos.

There are no public restrooms in The English Shop, but there are public bathrooms at a small pavilion a short ways down Main Street.

Things to Do

I find it’s easy to spend more time than you realize in this shop. The main room you first enter is filled with British candy, crisps (potato chips), soda, shortbread, jams, scone mixes, and other foods, including a small fridge with clotted cream.

A separate room at the front of the shop is brimming with various types of tea. You can find bulk tea, loose leaf tea, tea bags, and even some individual tea bags. There are also accessories such as tea storage and tea strainers. You’ll even find some literary-themed teas (Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, etc.) and other novelties.

The back section of the shop contains tea sets, sports items, kilts, and various souvenirs. There are also personal care and fragrance items including Yardley, Inis Energy of the Sea, and men’s shaving products. In addition, you’ll find collectibles for Dr. Who, The Beatles, Paddington Bear, Sherlock Holmes, Queen Elizabeth, and Guiness.

Our Thoughts

This is probably the single shop I spend the most money in during all my visits to Main Street. My husband and I always have a few types of tea from here in our pantry. We’re particular fans of the Yorkshire tea brand and the PG Tips tea brand, which the shopkeepers tell me are among the most popular teas in Britain. If you’re interested in loose leaf tea (I’ve been more aware lately of the potential presence of microplastics in traditional tea bags), this shop has a good selection of that kind of tea, too.

This is also a great place to shop for gifts or stocking stuffers for family and friends, especially if they like trying foods and snacks from other countries, or if they’re fans of English football, Dr. Who, or other British culture.

I’ve also found that the various shopkeepers on duty here will readily chat with you about the best tea and other snacks to try.

The English Shop is one of the most unique shops on Main Street, and it’s well worth checking out when you’re in the area.