TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Doggie store’s new
doors to open in with
a splash of aloha (wear)Jen Kunishima didn't go to law school intending to "throw my career to the dogs," she said.
She didn't, not completely, as she uses her business law knowledge in running Hawaii Doggie Bakery and the soon-to-be-two Hawaii Doggie Bakery & Gift Shop locations.
With sister Trudi Mahelona as head baker, the bakery was opened at 2038 So. King Street in December of 1998.
The idea of freshly baked healthy treats for dogs worked and the business grew.
In February 2001, the first Hawaii Doggie Bakery & Gift Shop opened at Ward Warehouse. The new location will open on the ground floor of Pearlridge Center Uptown Aug. 1 between Ann Taylor and Disney.
The 2,200-square-foot space is more than double the size of the Ward store, enabling Kunishima to expand her bakery and retail concept to include various types of art work and a reading area.
"We have over 200 artists within the store now that are doing everything from jewelry for pet lovers to stationery, dog- and cat-themed," she said.
Peggy Chun, Mary Faustine and Karen Spachner are among the local artists whose work will be displayed and sold in the new location.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
K9 model Habepti models a new line of alohawear designed for man's best friend. The shirts sell for $26 at Hawaii Doggie Bakery & Gift Shop at Ward Warehouse.
"A lot of the galleries will pick up their floral and Hawaiian prints," Kunishima said, "but they finally have a venue for their pet-related artwork ... with a Hawaiian flair."
Dogs on surfboards, or wearing aloha shirts for instance.
The latter painting was not the inspiration for her nearly year-old, trademarked "Island Paws" collection of aloha shirts and other Hawaiian-print accessories for pets, she said.
The store will expand the line with Hawaiian-print pet beds "and fun things and it makes sense, right? We're a pet boutique, in Hawaii."
About half her customers are not pet owners, which she said surprises people. Her customers are a mix of locals and visitors who want Hawaii-themed gifts for pets and their owners. Many of her customers are not in Hawaii. "We mail all over the world," she said, to customers who have been in the stores or who have found the online location at www.hawaiidoggiebakery.com.
Back from virtual reality, the new store will have a reading area, into which customers may bring beverages from outside. That will fill a niche too, she said. "We've found there's not enough books, fun books on dogs and pets."
Kunishima is not worried that in three years of business, she's expanded too quickly.
"We have embellished the idea of what any pet person or pet lover would want, with an atmosphere that looks nice and smells good and has things for themselves as well as their pet," she said.
"What has made this concept successful, the backbone of what we do," Kunishima said, "is the very healthy, vet-approved gourmet Hawaiian doggie biscuits that we've never strayed from."
The sisters regularly confer with Dr. Arlene Skillman from University Pet Clinic.
The bakery uses fresh poi, sweet potatoes, apple bananas and no preservatives, butter or salt in its doggie delicacies. Her suppliers are small local farmers who "know me because I buy so much from them.
"We like to support local companies as well." The Island Paws line is sewn in Hawaii by local seamstresses who will soon become much busier.
At the end of the year, "We will be wholesaling, going national," Kunishima said, "that will go hand in hand when we wholesale our biscuits."
In the near term, the Pearlridge store will throw a grand opening celebration Aug. 10 and 11 with edibles for people and demonstrations by portrait artist Yumiko Higami from Japan from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
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
