KILAUEA — Earlier this month, three woman joined forces to open Kilauea Fine Jewelry at the new Ahuimanu Shopping Center in Kilauea.
Co-owners Tiffany Freepartner, Karen Friend and Nicky Boyer said they had a soft opening on June 1 and are now open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The grand opening blessing and celebration is scheduled for July 17.
“I can’t express deeply enough just how much the opening of our store means to us,” Freepartner said. “We literally cried when we had our first sale a few days ago. Your readers can expect to be impressed. This isn’t just any other jewelry store, it’s an experience. When you walk in you feel alight, bright and modern sophistication.”
She continued: “From the beautiful teal-blue accent wall, the decorative mother-of-pearl mirrors and the glass table to the kind, smiling faces that greet you, we have a large selection of modern diamond and gemstone pendants, necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings.”
Friend talked about what customers can expect and summer features.
“We offer kama‘aina discounts as well as custom orders and a men’s collection,” Friend said. “We believe our upcoming line of sustainable diamond jewelry will really set us apart from everything else out there, and be something the local community can really appreciate.”
Friend said they felt that when the island started opening back up would be a good time to open, too. And Boyer said their services are top-notch.
“We do offer a few services,” Boyer said. “We are going to be doing jewelry cleaning. And we are also specializing in designing, so that when they can come in here and they can tell us what they want.”
The ladies carry silver jewelry from Bali, Tahitian pearls, a local favorite, and fine diamonds, which are still a girl’s best friend.
Friend and Freepartner, a mother-daughter duo, have lots of family in the jewelry industry, and it’s always been a passion.
Freepartner graduated from Fashion Institure of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, and worked in marketing and design for many years. Boyer and Friend worked in and managed a fine-jewelry store for over 15 years, and always believed they could bring their own fresh take to Kaua‘i that no one has experienced here yet.
According to Freepartner, the three women believe there’s a market for quality modern jewelry designs made by reputable women with strong values. They strive for excellence in their customer service, and stand by their brand. All three owners have expressed it’s been a lifelong dream to open a brick-and-mortar retail store.
“We have been trying to open for over two years now,” Freepartner said. “It’s been a very long and trying road. We had to overcome many obstacles, some of which began even before the pandemic. We had originally anticipated opening at the end of 2019, but due to construction and permitting delays we had pushed our opening date to March 2020.
“We had already taken out our investment money and purchased supplies and inventory. We had everything in place and were ready to open, and then COVID-19 hit. Everything fell apart, and we had to figure out how to pay our expenses and stay afloat,” Freepartner said.
Freepartner said the pandemic affected their personal home life and expenses as well, which added to the stress and struggle.
“At one point during the shutdown, I can recall telling my mom that I thought it was over and there would be no way we could still make the store happen, and I thought we needed to count our losses and liquidate what we could,” Freepartner said. “Towards the end of summer, we felt a shift, and noticed our customers’ desire to get back out and travel, etc. We revisited our business plan and crunching numbers. It was at that time we approached our long-time friend and colleague, Nicky Boyer.”
Finding a business partner was the answer to the duo’s problems.
Freepartner said Boyer has a long history in the industry and reputable contacts the partners knew would be of value, and ended up being just what was needed to still bring Kilauea Fine Jewelry to life. This is why they officially brought her in as a co-owner on Jan. 1 before going back to work completing the build-out of the store.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to work with Tiffany and Karen,” Boyer said. “Our company is overjoyed to be opening in the Kilauea community. As women and working mothers in the industry, we believe we are uniquely suited to bring a fresh take to the fine-jewelry market.”
Now that the ladies accomplished one of their dreams together, Freepartner expressed her gratitude to the Kaua‘i community. “KFJ is honored to open our first store at the Ahuimanu Shopping Center, located in the wonderful Kilauea community we love so much,” she said. “We look forward to building our reputation for excellence among our local residents as well as mainland and international visitors.”
Info: kilaueafinejewelry.com
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Stephanie Shinno, education and business reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com.
