Pura Vida hosts grand opening at first retail store

San Diego store is like “walking into a candy store of jewelry.”

Pura Vida launched its first retail store with a grand opening on Aug. 19. The new store location is at 4545 La Jolla Village Drive in Westfield University Town Center in San Diego.

The grand opening party drew a crowd of more than 1,500 friends, family and fans.

“Let's just say - we definitely caused a scene in the middle of the mall!” a blog post on the store website states.

Exclusive Pura Vida products were handed out to attendees, including keychains, stickers and drinks. A custom flower bar was set up for fans to make their own dried and fresh floral bouquets. There were also plenty of selfie opportunities with a polaroid station, a photo wall and a balloon backdrop. A 14-foot live moss wall with a pink Pura Vida neon sign is also a fixture in the store designed to capture Instagram images.

Some of the company’s top influencers came to event to meet fans, including Hailey Miller, Courtney Steeves, McMall Mitchell, Vanessa Torres, Chelsey Bishoff and photographer Shaye Babb. A few of the influencers helped pass out Sun Bum and Pura Vida freebies to fans who waited in line for hours. The first 100 fans received a special gift filled with filled with Pura Vida products, treats from Sugarfina, Pura Vida stickers, Pura Vida face masks, Sun Bum Lip Balm and retro sunglasses.

Neighboring restaurant True Foods served everyone in the VIP lounge with appetizers. All guest 21 and older were served custom Pura Vida drinks designed by the company’s own creative team.

According to the website, www.pacificsandiego.com, founders Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman chose the UTC location because they consider it the nicest mall in San Diego and one of the top malls in California. Thall likened walking into the store as “walking into a candy store of jewelry.”