Playa Bowls opens in East Lansing

The long line leading outside of the new Playa Bowl on Grand River shows that East Lansing is preparing for summer vacation with a smoothie and an acai bowl.

 The Playa Bowls franchise opened its newest location in East Lansing on June 18. Its grand opening for the new attraction on Grand River was a huge success, with large groups of students and East Lansing locals lining the sidewalks in hopes to cool down from the heat with their favorite blends of fruit and juices. 

Playa Bowls employee Brooke Soper said it has been staying busy since opening day.

“We usually get quite a bit of people, I’d say between noon and 2 is probably our busiest time but it’s a pretty constant flow,” said Soper.

Playa Bowl started as a small business in Belmar, New Jersey, but now has over 140 stores that have opened in the past seven years. Isabella Nuzzi, a shift leader from a New Jersey location, came to East Lansing to help open the store. . She said the Playa Bowls took off right from the start. 

“… It just grew and grew and [founders Robert Giuliani and Abby Taylor]  realized people really like this stuff so they found an old gym and they bought it and created the first Playa Bowl ever down in Belmar, New Jersey, and it just kind of exploded from there,” Nuzzi said. 

The new smoothie spot has received a lot of positive feedback from students and locals in East Lansing, student Amanda Perry said she thinks it will be good for the college population. 

“I think it is something new and I like how you can customize stuff,” said Perry.
Playa Bowl is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.