IN HONOR OF NIKKI BEACH GLOBAL’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY, CEO LUCIA PENROD REFLECTS ON ITS PROLIFIC HISTORY.

Entrance to Nikki Beach Miami. PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKKI BEACH

Nikki Beach Global (@nikkibeach) has much to celebrate this year. Marking 25 years as the original luxury beach club, Nikki Beach remains one of the most cherished destinations around the world—and the concept started right here on the sands of Miami Beach in 1998. In honor of the grand occasion, we sit down with Nikki Beach CEO Lucia Penrod to discuss the brand’s origin, its role in revitalizing the South of Fifth neighborhood and what the next 25 years will look like.

Lucia and Jack Penrod PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKKI BEACH

As Nikki Beach celebrates its 25th anniversary, how has the concept evolved since 1998?

Our founder—and my husband—Jack Penrod originally opened Nikki Beach as a tribute to his late daughter Nicole Penrod. It was a beautiful butterfly garden called Café Nikki. That’s where our mission to ‘celebrate life’ originated. We eventually expanded onto the beach, and the first luxury beach club experience in America was born. Today, we’ve grown into a global lifestyle company with 11 beach clubs, five resorts and hotels, lifestyle boutiques, an e-commerce fashion website, annual pop-ups and so much more. We never planned to build a global brand, but now here we are with locations in some of the world’s most coveted travel destinations, from St. Barts to Santorini and St-Tropez, Dubai and Thailand! We have clients from around the world who started as fans of our original concept in Miami Beach, and many celebrity fans, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Rihanna, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez and more.

The dining area at Nikki Beach PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKKI BEACH

In the 25 years since Nikki Beach first launched in Miami Beach, the surrounding South of Fifth neighborhood has changed too.

Definitely! Nikki Beach may be turning 25, but Jack and I have been a part of this community since 1986. Before Nikki Beach, Jack opened Penrod’s Beach Club in Fort Lauderdale, a very successful brand in its own right. The City of Miami Beach actually courted him to open a second location in Miami to help bring life to what was then a very blighted and dangerous neighborhood.

The presence of Penrod’s, and ultimately Nikki Beach, elevated and activated South of Fifth’s transformation into a luxury residential community. The marketing efforts we invested in the location—not just locally, but around the country—helped bring new investors and big businesses to the beach. In the years after opening, we saw new restaurants, nightclubs, lounges and stores coming to the beach, and when we transformed the property from Penrod’s into Nikki Beach, we started seeing a whole new clientele.

Over the years, we’ve evolved with the neighborhood. While we still love big celebrations, today our emphasis is on daytime programming like lazy, toes-in-the-sand lunches, rosé brunches and pop-ups with some of our favorite wellness brands. We also refreshed our garden area, and it’s now a cozy place to work and sip coffee with plenty of shaded seating. The beach club has become a charming neighborhood institution where locals and visitors alike can enjoy great food and refreshing cocktails on the beach.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKKI BEACH

What does the future hold for Nikki Beach?

On a local level, we are making some updates to Nikki Beach Miami Beach, in celebration of our big milestone anniversary this year, including a new setup on the beach. Globally, we’ve shifted focus to growing our hotels and resorts division. We currently have five resort properties spanning Koh Samui, Thailand; Porto Heli, Greece; Dubai, UAE; Santorini, Greece; and Tivat, Montenegro. Early next year, we’ll be opening a new resort in Muscat, Oman, which has already won a number of design awards. Our seasonal beach clubs around the world will be opening throughout April and May, and as always, our teams have put together some really exciting programming for our guests. We’re so excited to see what our 25th season has in store.

At Nikki Beach, guests will indulge in exquisite cocktails and cuisine and can lounge in the sun, enjoying premier beach service. PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKKI BEACH

What else does this look like for you and Jack?

Jack and I have been through so much together and we have so much to be thankful for. I’m incredibly proud to share that Jack wrote a book coming out in May that details his life story as a hospitality entrepreneur and visionary. What many people don’t know is that he started out as a line cook at McDonald’s and worked his way up in the company to become one of that brand’s largest franchise owners in the state of Florida. He used his success to create Penrod’s and Nikki Beach. He’s truly had an incredible journey, and I can’t wait for people to read it!