Puro Paradise: From stickers to a surf shop and beyond
Puerto Rican entrepreneur Kenneth Castro expands his and others’ brand with a store and new ventures.
Kenneth Castro, a 27-year-old Puerto Rican entrepreneur, launched Puro Paradise, a surf shop in Plaza Juan Ponce de León, in 2023. This store originated from his self-made brand of original stickers, t-shirts and hats, with which he made a net profit of $20,000 last year.
Castro, who studied graphic design and photography in college, originally began creating stickers inspired by the ocean and the island’s beauty for fun. He quickly noticed people’s interest in the product.
“I decided on printing out some stickers for fun, and I just started giving them out to my friends. Everybody was liking them so much, they started buying it off me. Then they started asking, ‘Hey, these are really good, what are you going to be doing next? T-shirts or hats?’ And I hadn’t really thought about it. But that’s when the whole idea started of creating my own clothing brand, and that was back in 2020,” Castro explained.
In April 2021, Castro took the next step by launching a website to sell his products online, which at the time was called Lost in Paradise. His sudden boost in success after the launch of his website left him with the idea of creating a physical store.
“When I launched the website, that’s when I introduced new products like t-shirts, hats, pins and new designs of stickers. People were very supportive; as a result, I did get to sell out of my stuff pretty quick. I also started getting invited to local markets to set up with my brand. So that also gave me more exposure, and I was reaching a larger audience.
“Now there were a lot more people looking at my brand. It was just a chain reaction of getting invited to a lot of events, and I basically started setting up little pop-up shops all over the island. That is when I started dreaming of having a physical location,” Castro added.
Now, Castro is allowing other small creators to grow and get more exposure by opening his store doors for other Puerto Rican entrepreneurs to sell in his shop.
Castro pointed out that he has five brands from other entrepreneurs in his store, “mostly accessories like handmade jewelry. One is Mad Designs, which offers laser-cut wood accessories such as earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Another brand is Amazonas Accesorios, both of which originated in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
“There’s also a brand from Ponce, called Starfish Jewelry. I also have a personal friend who makes handmade leather goods like backpacks, wallets, belts and small packs, some of which are hand-painted with graffiti art. Lastly, I have a friend who also creates original sticker designs under the name Choco Art,”.
Kenneth is continually expanding his business ventures. Most recently, he has delved into the writing and self-publishing industry on the island and decided to take on this new creative journey. He unveiled his poetry book, “The Colors of Ocean is Midnight,” on July 19, and it is now available for purchase in his store.
“In general, creating this poetry book was very, very healing. Even though I didn’t create it with that purpose, I still feel like I healed a lot. I talked a lot about depression; anxiety; loneliness; breakups, like romantic breakups; and that struggle.
“It’s divided into chapters. Chapter one is called ‘The Breaking,’ chapter two is called ‘The Praying,’ and then chapter three is called ‘The Healing.’ There are also a lot of poems dedicated to the ocean, because the ocean is my favorite place to be. I can’t imagine myself living anywhere else than in Puerto Rico, always near the ocean,” Castro concluded.
