Lala & Elm, a boutique run by a Wilmington family, has opened near Mayfaire.
Lala & Elm’s owners, Erica Mearns and her daughters Alexis and Claire, brought their eco-luxe clean beauty and wellness shop to 1437 Military Cutoff Road, Suite 105, with a grand opening Friday and Saturday, according to a news release.
The store in the Progress Point center focuses on personal care products that are not tested on animals, stated the release.
The boutique is slated to carry about 50 different product brands including “Innersense, 27 Rosiers, Tammy Fender, Tata Harper, Jenny Patinkin, Osmia and Vapour," stated the release. "Many of the brands are featured in Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and others."
Lala & Elm will also feature other products, including accessories, a sustainable swimwear line, self-purifying water bottles, sustainably-made jewelry and artwork by local photographer Sean Ruttkay, officials said in the release.
Erica Mearns is a former industrial environmental health and safety consultant and translator, stated the release. A real estate agent with Intracoastal Realty, she also has served on many nonprofit organizations' committees including the N.C. Azalea Festival Board of Directors and was president of the festival in 2010.
Her daughters also are owners of the joint venture. Alexis Mearns is a sophomore at N.C. State University, majoring in environmental science, with an environmental toxicology minor. Claire Mearns is a rising eighth-grader and has worked to urge lawmakers to help ban shark finning.
Alexis and Claire, “have teamed up to form a nonprofit Coastal Creature Mission which will focus on educating consumers on how choices in personal care products affect our oceans, efforts that can improve the effects, as well as coordinating beach sweeps," the release stated.
The store also plans to donate a portion of every sale to help protect ocean life.
Lala & Elm will offer private shopping to consumers and work with them to donate a portion of after-hours proceeds to nonprofit charities, stated the release.
