Lanice Wilson and Renee Sellers are entrepreneurs in Wilmington. They are small business owners of The Juice Joint, LLC and Lush Oasis MedSpa & Retreat. Their newest business, The Juice Joint opened this past July on the Riverfront across from Constitution Yards. This is their story:
Lanice: “I was born and raised in Bronx, NY and obtained my M.Ed. (Master in Education) from Wilmington University. I moved to Delaware in 2001, one month after 9/11. I didn’t want to raise my children in the city (NYC) — so I chose Delaware because it was centrally located to NY, PA, MD and DC – and because of the cost of living.
I was introduced to juicing over three years ago by my daughter, Anuuma. I immediately fell in love with it as I am alway intrigued by food that can be used as medicine. While working at the Riverfront for over 5 years, I often wished there was a juice bar that offered fresh and healthy beverage/meal options. It was a consistent feeling, and after thoughtful consideration, my business partner Renee and I decided to make that wish a reality.”
Renee: “I was born Philadelphia, PA and graduated from Peirce College with a BA in Business Administration. I moved to Delaware in 1994 with my family and have been here ever since.
I have been suffering with various complications due to an autoimmune disease. I attribute juicing as one of the things that is improving my overall health, reducing my inflammation and giving me more energy.
We love Wilmington – particularly, the Riverfront. When scouting locations for The Juice Joint, the Riverfront was a no brainer.
As you can imagine both of our businesses have been hit hard by Covid-19. It also has had a tremendous impact on both of our families. Unfortunately both have had family members die due to complications from it. Our spa was closed for 6 months and is seeing reduced traffic. The Juice Joint, which opened during this pandemic, is struggling to meet its projected foot traffic. This is mostly because offices are not open for business… So many employees are still working from home and may be doing so for the remainder of this year.
Our motto is ‘you can’t stop living.’ We both try to create as much normalcy as possible, while remaining vigilant about staying safe so we can keep our families, employees, customers and community safe.
We are really looking forward to businesses safely welcoming their staff back into their offices. We miss the people, and the energy of Wilmington and are excited to see the new normal continue to grow and expand safely throughout the city.
Always stay the course – things will get better! Support small businesses in your community, buy goods, services and/or gift cards so that when this pandemic is over, your favorite spots will still be here to serve you!”
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