Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Opening of NOVUS Store at the Pembroke Lakes Mall here in the Miami-Dade/Broward area. I was very excited about making it out to the Grand Opening since this store is a local Puerto Rican business. Due to the increasing Puerto Rican population that now exists in the state of Florida, and due to the online sales that this area generated, the company decided to expand out onto the mainland and chose South Florida for their first store. Prior to the opening of the store, I was already well aware of it, their shoes, and the brand seeing as my mom would tell me about this store when we visited the island since she used to shop there prior to leaving the island. I was happy to be able to make it out there and support my Puerto Rican community and a local Puerto Rican business.
The store opened 40 years ago in Puerto Rico and now has over 60 stores, with this store in Florida being the first one on the mainland. The Castellón family – owners of Grupo Novus, Pembroke Pines Mayor Ortis, Commissioner Jay Schwartz, and other personalities were present at the Grand Opening event.
“Click Your Red Heels … and Return Home” was the campaign used for the Grand Opening of this store. As you can see in the header picture, it is based in part on the idea of Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz who uses her magical red shoes to be transported back home. In this case, the memories and nostalgia for all those who once wore Novus shoes in Puerto Rico is something that calls Puerto Ricans to come to the new store and be transported in their mind to a time spent on the island. The red – so symbolic of the Novus brand – is perfect with this modern campaign that puts a Puerto Rican “Dorothy” on the streets of Old San Juan – made of cobblestones (adoquines) – and is magically turned into a “yellow brick road”.
Here are some pictures I took during the Grand Opening event. Check out the shoes and if you’re in South Florida, make sure to visit their store. If not, you can also purchase them online.
Besides women’s shoes, they also carry jewelry/accessories.
They also carry men’s shoes
To end the Grand Opening in true Puerto Rican form, pleneros (they play and sing Plena, music native to Puerto Rico) were brought from Puerto Rico to play some songs and end the night on a musical note.
Check out this video I took of Plenatarium, the pleneros that came from Puerto Rico for the Grand Opening.
I’m looking forward to heading back to the store and picking up a few pairs of shoes that will in a sense make me feel closer to Puerto Rico.
¡Enhorabuena!
