TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Salon and spa magnate Paul Brown is expanding into Kailua in an unusual way. So is Adasa Hawaii, an upscale retail boutique run by couturier and former 1960s teen queen Donna Loren and her husband, Jered Cargman. Upscale salon and boutique
head to KailuaThe companies will be roommates, sort of.
Brown's new full-service salon will adjoin Adasa at 25 Maluniu Ave. below Kailua Fitness, just off Kuulei Road.
The building is owned and leased by 407 Partners LLC; Bernie Scherman is among the principals and is Brown's point man.
"The location is really nice, he's done a beautiful job on the building," Brown said. Scherman's terms represented a deal Brown couldn't refuse.
"I couldn't turn it down, it was just too good," Brown said.
For Adasa, "the opportunity really came through Paul Brown," said Loren.
It was one of many opportunities arising after Sept. 11, including a space near Brown's Ward Centre Salon and Day Spa.
"How'd you like to be neighbors?" she asked him, which started the three exploring a joint location.
Brown, Loren's hairdresser, toured her Hilton Hawaiian Village boutique.
"She designs retro '60s," Brown said, "really cool cigarette pants, aloha print on silk and Chanel-quality fabrics."
He mentioned that her shoe designer takes the fabrics to make coordinating shoes, catching the breath of your columnist.
Brown reciprocated with a tour of the Kailua space.
"I kind of vibed it out and it just felt right," Loren said. Meeting Scherman sealed the deal, she said.
Brown, Loren and Cargman decided to share a common entryway from his salon to our boutique to create "unity in the community,", she said. The eight-foot passageway will facilitate to-and-fro by clientele of both spaces.
Her '60s-themed boutique will carry lines of designer activewear, the aforementioned fabric-matched shoes by Donald Pliner, and a retro line of furniture.
For example she ordered "egg chairs" by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio.
This will be location No. 4 for Brown and No. 3 for Adasa, formerly based in Waimea on the Big Island but now headquartered in Honolulu.
But first their ship must come in, as overdue flooring has them in the same boat, even though the cargo is on different vessels.
Shipments of Brown's tile and Loren's flooring, which will be "like mom's old linoleum with that old confetti look to it," were both delayed, pushing their planned opening to mid-July.
Both are hiring; a handful for the retail shop and a little more than a dozen for the Kailua salon and other locations to accommodate internal transfers.
Kailua Fitness moved upstairs and refocused its concept following the building renovation earlier this year.
"What we do now is more blended fitness," owner and President Gwynn Ellicott said. That includes physical therapy, Pilates, massage therapy, personal training and then regular fitness membership.
The shift concentrates on a fitness program for each individual where members can get a massage or "work with a physical therapist if they've had any ailments and continue on with preventative health care," Ellicott said.
Her client demographic ranges from teenagers to an 89-year-old, she said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com