By SABRINA BERNDT

Washington Daily News

 

A brand new smoothie shop has swooped into Washington to give locals a healthy option.

PureVida Nutrition opened its doors on May 27 and has since sparked an interest in nutritional alternatives in town. Owned by Evelia Barrera, Itzel Vela and Oscar Rodriguez, the shop sold 1,000 drinks in the first three days of being open.

“We technically just dropped our jobs hoping this would work,” Barrera said. “I saw the opportunity to start my own business and open up a nutritional place to help other people live a healthy and happy lifestyle. So I went for it.”

The soy-based drinks do not contain more than 270 calories and contain 21 vitamins and nutrients. According to Barrera, she found an interest in nutritional drink substitutes after getting involved in Herbalife. Living in Washington since 2007, she also noticed there was a lack of healthy options for residents.

“There’s no nutritional place here that can offer a healthy smoothie,” Barrera said. “There’s all of this fried food: hot dogs, Cook Out. There really isn’t a way to help the community pick a healthy lifestyle here.”

With the goals of inspiring locals to pick healthier options and spend more time with their children, the two women quit their corporate jobs and created PureVida. The result is a welcoming, intimate environment with a family business feel.

“Hopefully, we motivate other people to live better,” Barrera said. “If they feel better about themselves, they’ll have a happier lifestyle. They’ll be more motivated to do other things when they feel good and confident about their body.”

Due to the tremendous turnout during their debut week, the two women ran out of cups on their third day; they had ordered 1,000. Since then, the support from the community has continued, and Barrera and Vela are happy to explain their extensive menu to every new face that comes to visit.

“We never expected that much (business),” Vela said. “We are very grateful for the town. They’ve shown us so much support.”

Barrera and Vela recently launched a delivery service with no fee, but a three-order minimum. They are also planning Zumba classes for customers, as well as a weight-loss program.