Playa Bowls, the nation’s leading health food shop offering different superfoods, plans to open a new location in St. Johns at 345 Beachwalk Shore Drive, Suite 105.
This will be the second location for franchisees Mark Williams and Richard Hardman, according to Jacksonville Daily Record. The duo is also behind the new site coming to St. Johns Town Center, located at 4720 Town Crossing Drive, No. 125. Previous reports had this site opening into the former home of Tech Genies in July. It appears this site will now open sometime in December 2023, while the new Beachwalk location will open next year.
“We wanted to open in areas where delicious fresh food products would be appreciated and needed as an option for meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), snacks, or even desserts,” Williams tells JDR. “These two locations are great for that. Both are located where you can dine in our beautifully decorated surf & tropical-themed restaurant or take your bowl & smoothie out to eat while you shop.”
Playa Bowls was founded by Jersey Shore natives Robert Giuliani and Abby Taylor, who were inspired by surfing trips worldwide. While traveling through Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico, they realized everywhere offered a unique version of an acai or pitaya bowl. The two bought a blender and started selling the exotic treats from a pop-up outside a pizza shop. Now the company has 194 franchise-owned sites and 28 corporate locations. While the company has about a dozen locations in Florida, these are the first in the Jacksonville area. All locations offer a variety of acai bowls, pitaya bowls, green bowls, juices, smoothies, and more.
