The Boone Mall welcomed Ulta Beauty Friday, replacing Old Navy at 1180 Blowing Rock Road. 

The salon had its soft opening Friday morning with over 50 people waiting at the doors. The grand opening will be Sept. 2 and the store will be offering discounts and coupons, said Robyn Lindenmuth, services manager. 

Ulta Beauty stores carry name-brand makeup products such as Estee Lauder, Tarte, Fenty Beauty and Clinique. The beauty store is also known for carrying skin care products like Tula, Mario Badescu and Dermalogica along with a variety of hair care products. 

Licensed beauty professionals are available to customers to get their hair and makeup professionally done. The makeup station is located near the center of the store and the hair salon station is in the back of the store with the hair care products. 

The store took 10 days to stock and set up for the soft opening, Lindenmuth said.

“We still have a couple of things to do, so this is technically our soft open,” Lindenmuth said. 

The staff working at Ulta Friday started training Aug. 16 with an orientation while doing store sets. Lindenmuth said the staff viewed training videos during their orientation and then worked on the floor with more seasoned employees.

“Ulta is very flexible with my school schedule. I’m able to give them all the days that I’m available and they work very closely with us to make sure they’re not double booking us,” said Victoria Vincent, a senior digital marketing major at App State and beauty advisor for Ulta. Vincent said she and her fellow employees had more than enough time and training to familiarize themselves with the setup of the store and practice setting up displays. 

The beauty store will be looking for more staff in the upcoming weeks. Anyone looking to apply can visit Ulta Beauty’s hiring website, Lindenmuth said. 

Many customers in the crowd said they are excited to see products like NARS, Kylie Cosmetics, Anastasia, Smashbox and many more.

“I’m excited for the hair care products and makeup here, especially Redken because you can’t get it in drug stores,” said Taylor Wladyka, a senior at App State.

The Ulta Beauty staff is also eager about the new products the store has to offer. 

“I’m really excited to see r.e.m. and as far as skin care of course I’m excited to see the Ordinary products and we have body butters that I’m excited to try out like Tropic Glow,” Vincent said. 

Boone residents have mixed emotions about mainstream businesses like Ulta Beauty coming to town. 

Wladyka said she doesn’t want to see Boone change too much because of Boone’s local charm even though she is excited to have an Ulta Beauty in the area. 

“I really do like the small shops and they’re so unique and local. However, it is really nice and convenient to have a few stores like this so I don’t have to drive far for these products,” Mary Beth Hege, Boone local, said.