The dust has settled, the building has been completed, the shelves are stocked and Ulta has officially opened.

The store did a ‘soft’ opening on Friday, Sept. 27 where guests could enter the store in the Crossroads Shopping Center and see what they had to offer and make a purchase. This is to help the staff get familiar with the product and procedures as well as handle any issues that may arise prior to the official Grand Opening celebration.

Ulta had that official three day grand opening starting on Friday, Oct. 3 through Sunday, Oct. 5 where the first 100 guests received a gift certificate between the amounts of $5 to $100 off their purchase.

People started lining up fairly early and eventually the festivities had people wrapped around the building prior to opening at 10 a.m. on Friday. Before opening the doors, the staff at Ulta and a few city officials had a ribbon cutting ceremony outside to celebrate the occasion.

Once the doors opened for business, men and women alike rushed through the doors ready to get shopping. They had a raffle for a box full of varying cosmetics that several people entered after they walked through the doors.

The beauty retailer offers a large variety of prestige and mass cosmetics, fragrances, bath, body, haircare tools, accessories and any everyday beauty item you may need to restock your bathroom cupboards for men and women.

“The nice thing about Ulta is that we offer such a diverse variety of products,” stated Michelle Wohler, General Manager. “We have a lot of professional hair lines and hair brushes, hair accessories, so if you are looking for something simple or more fancy for an updo for a wedding, we have it.”

There is a full service salon inside Ulta where they do haircuts, blowouts, hair extensions, color, and more. Since they are a full service licensed salon they carry professional hair care products including Redken, Living Proof, Paul Mitchell and Big Sexy.

The prestige line that Ulta carries, which are types of product that you may find at a department store, include Bare Minerals, Urban Decay, Smashbox, Benefit, Tarte, Anastasia, Stila, to name a few.

The Benefit Brow Bar may be the service to acquire if you are looking to shape your brows or possibly get a wax job where they have two licensed brow techs.

The cosmetics area had It representative Josephine Houlihan on hand to give information on the “It” line and provide a few makeovers during the grand opening. Ulta carries a variety of “It” products like brushes of all shapes and sizes, powder, foundation, mascara, and much more. “It” founder Jamie Kern Lima worked with a leading plastic surgeon to develop innovative anti-aging technology.

Calvin Klein has a line of cosmetics that are exclusive for Ulta as well.

They have two estheticians available to assist guests with a facials, microzones, flash exfoliation, eye rescue, lip renewal, blackhead relief, microdermabrasion, and several other services.

The professional skin care line includes brands like Dermalogica, Bliss, Dermadoctor, Mario Badescu, Murad, and Exuviance.

Exuviance is a skin care line that was developed by a dermatologist.

There is a diverse selection of nail polish at the salon nail bar with a huge variety of nail color as well as several fragrances offered at Ulta for men and women.

Ulta has a men’s section that has brands including Lab Series, J Crew, and items like beard trimmers and shavers.

“Most skin care items are unisex,” said Wohler.

The mass cosmetics which are products that you could find at the grocery store like Maybelline, Loreal, NYX are also available at Ulta.

Ulta also has their own line of cosmetics, body sprays, shower gels, lotions, nails, and lip items. They have a selection of implements like brushes, tweezers, eyelashes, nail files, and more. The store also features a reward card that you can sign up for where you can get discounts and earn points that can be redeemed anytime.

With over 20 years of retail experience, Wohler has always had an interest in the beauty industry and has been with Ulta for two years. She is also the retail market trainer for the district and is very pleased to be in Riverbank which is a closer drive for her from her home.

Ulta is a huge supporter of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, so staff members will be wearing pink throughout the month of October and they are doing donations. Dependent on the donation amount there will be gifts given to guests that donate.

“We had a fantastic turn out for all three days, guests are ecstatic that we are here, staff was amazing, just smiles, and so ready to help our guests,” stated Wohler. “I would say just thank you to everyone that was in line for the three days and to everyone that shopped with us to support our grand opening.”