STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw and others cut the ribbon this week on the first of the stores to open in the new building at 5th and Main where Formula Sports used to be.

The Johnny Was store, tucked away under a cave-like arch at Fifth and Main, features “California cool” carefree kimono sleeve shirts, prairie blouses, faux fur coats and more--all rife with colorful florals sporting bright reds and blacks and other colors.

The Johnny Was line was founded in Los Angeles in 2010 by reggae lover Eli Levite, who named it after Bob Marley’s 1976 hit “Johnny Was” about a man shot down on a Belfast night. It targets “mature” customers who have a penchant for modern bohemian.

Ketchum’s is the 81st Johnny Was store in the United States.

“The store has grown rapidly the past five years,” said store manager Grete Crile, who moved to the Wood River Valley from Oregon in order to simply after attending the University of Oregon-Eugene.

All the pieces are unique—you won’t see the same style next year, said Crile.

As if the dresses and knit hats and other accessories aren’t colorful enough, each store features unique murals.

A California muralist spent a few days getting to know the Sun Valley community before painting a handful of murals, including one of Bald Mountain and others depicting elk, lodgepole pines, wildflowers, a hummingbird and a Northern Flicker.

The 24,000-square-foot, three-story, mixed-use building was designed by architect Michael Bulls and developed by Dave Wilson Construction. It features four community-housing units and four market-rate residential units, in addition to the two retail spaces on the ground floor.

The design was meant to get away from the blue metal construction that has been so prevalent in recent years, said John Sofro, principal broker of Berkshire Hathaway in Sun Valley.

A small block of 24 post boxes serves as a reminder that the site hosted Ketchum’s post office before it moved to the bottom of Third Street and, eventually, to Fourth Street and Second Avenue.

“The building has a feel of a European, an English train station,” Sofro added.

Flaherty, which caters to men and women, is expected to open next month.