Retail Roundup: Debuts of ‘Dueling water coaster,’ Danish furniture store, and golf club fitter studio
Rapids Waterpark in Riviera Beach is debuting Mega Mayhem — a new attraction it calls the longest dueling water coaster of its kind in North America, and the only one in Florida.
What’s a dueling water coaster, you ask?
Well, the coaster part is easy. It’s like a roller coaster but instead of rolling on wheels, water-propelled participants slide through the ride.
The dueling part is best explained by Rapids Waterpark:
“The ride stands close to 54 feet tall with two flumes spanning over 1,600 feet in length,” a news release states. “This unique water coaster experience features two side-by-side lanes where riders race against each other down twists, around high-banked turns, and uphill, propelled by a powerful blast of water at high speeds.”
Pairs of participants sharing two-person rafts begin their descent in adjoining lanes but are at times diverted into separate tunnels before coming together again at the bottom of the slide. Along the way, they zoom through three “blast zones,” and around four “exhilarating giant bowls,” the release says.
Rapids Waterpark says the ride, built by Ottawa, Canada-based ProSlide Technology Inc., is the largest ever built at the 45-year-old park. Officials say it will be open to the public on April 4.
Meanwhile, the 35-acre park offers more than 40 slides and attractions to cool visitors off as spring turns to South Florida summer.
The park features a quarter-mile lazy river, a 25,000-square-foot wave pool, a surf simulator, a tipping bucket attraction for kids, body slides, a mat racer, tube slides and raft rides.
Many special events and deals are planned in celebration of the park’s 45th birthday. They can be checked out at rapidswaterpark.com.
Five new storefronts open at YMCA retail plaza
The YMCA of South Florida recently welcomed five new operations to its retail plaza at the L.A. Lee YMCA/Mizell Community Center, 1409 Sistrunk Blvd., in Fort Lauderdale.
The community center opened in May 2022.
The new entities are:
Holy Cross Health Center – Providing access to family medicine, pediatric and adult immunizations, school physicals, annual wellness visits, and preventative services.
The Salad Boss – Offering salads, smoothies, wraps and more.
Natural Trend Setters Salon – Specializing in hair care and education.
Optimal Health Pharmacy – Opening soon.
Fort Lauderdale Police Substation – It’s relocating from its current home on Sistrunk Boulevard “to better serve the community,” according to a news release.
Boca Raton gets BoConcept, a Danish furniture store
BoConcept, featuring premium Danish furniture, opened Monday in Mizner Park in Boca Raton. The franchise, called BoConcept Boca Raton, is owned by Carlos Salamonovitz.
The Danish furniture brand designs, produces and sells “bold and functional furniture that fits perfectly in a range of living, dining, sleeping, home-office and outdoor spaces,” a news release states.
Founded in 1952 in Herning, Denmark, by two Danish craftsmen and cabinet makers, the first brand store opened in 1993 in Paris, France, and has since expanded to 65 countries.
The Boca Raton location, at 327 Plaza Real, will be the fourth BoConcept store in South Florida, according to the brand’s website. Others are in Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, and Coral Gables.
See the styles at BoConcept.com.
Panda Express welcomed to Deerfield Beach with new design
The popular Panda Express fast food chain opened its newest South Florida location at 3301 W. Hillsboro Blvd., just east of Powerline Road, earlier this month by giving away free branded T-shirts to the eatery’s first 88 guests.
Favorite dishes include Original Orange Chicken, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Broccoli Beef, and Firecracker Shrimp.
The new location, open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, features an updated store design inspired by traditional Chinese architecture and traditions with modern motifs that tells the unique story of Panda Express, the company said.
The Deerfield Beach location joins 24 other Panda Express locations in the tricounty region. Visit pandaexpress.com to learn more.
Custom golf club fitter brings new studio to Coral Springs
Club Champion has opened its 15th Florida location and is accepting golf club fitting appointments at 9134 Wiles Road in Coral Springs.
Using what it calls a “unique coupling system,” the company offers 65,000 head and shaft combinations using brands like Callaway, TaylorMade, PING, Cobra, Fujikura and many others.
It says it delivers a Tour-level fitting that produces longer, more accurate shots and has a nearly 100% satisfaction rate for golfers “of any ability level.”
The new studio features three indoor hitting bays with launch monitors for analyzing performance, a putt lab to find the perfect putter, and a build shop for repairing and assembling golf clubs by hand.
It’s open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
For more information, visit clubchampion.com or call 754-289-5669.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Send him your retail news at rhurtibise@sun-sentinel.com. Make sure to type Retail Roundup in the subject line of your email.