NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — Every day is a new day at Badfish, one of the newest businesses to open in Palm Beach County.
"These ones are imported from Indonesia," said Alexa Borrego.
The store specializes in aquatic plants and freshwater tropical fish. Yet, the most interesting find in it is the owner.
"They are from Brazil and these are the first ones to ever come into Florida," said Borrego as she explained her collection from around the globe.
The 23-year-old never strayed from her dream, even at an early age.
"If you asked me when I was 6 years old, I would have told you I want to own a pet store," she said.
Fresh out of college, she wasted no time putting that dream into reality. Despite the naysayers, who thought why now in the middle of a pandemic.
"It was definitely scary, but I felt like now or never thing, the timing might never be perfect, so I took the shot," said Borrego.
She signed a lease three days before the lockdown, spent six weeks renovating and opened in June with a lot of determination. Now, months later, her passion is bubbling with excitement.
The long hours, the extensive cleaning process, the logistical challenges of importing fish from across the globe never stopped her. Instead, it fed her motivation to keep going day after day.
"They come at least once a week," said Borrego. "They're regular customers and they're really the people who keep my business here."
The local shop is spawning local customers in the middle of one of the worst economic times this county has ever seen. Yet, for this young entrepreneur born and raised in Florida, opening in a pandemic has filtered a "sink or swim" mentality keeping her right with the current.
Borrego spent her life growing up hanging headfirst off the dock trying to catch anything in her net, so it is no surprise she caught momentum last year and filled aquariums.
Badfish Florida is located at 9088 Alternate A1A in North Palm Beach.
The store is open Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays to Fridays from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed Sundays and Mondays.
For more information, call Badfish at 561-855-4859.
