LIHU’E — From opening the store after closing time for a frantic mother-daughter pair in need of a picture for a class project, to doing all that is necessary to make every customer go home happy, Morning Glory in Kukui
LIHU’E — From opening the store after closing time for a frantic mother-daughter pair in need of a picture for a class project, to doing all that is necessary to make every customer go home happy, Morning Glory in Kukui Grove aims to please.
Among the newest of Kukui Grove shops, the store, owned and managed by partners Renee Kawakami and Myra Niau, features stuffed animals, but is not just for kids, Kawakami said.
Affordable prices on a highly popular pair of characters packed the store to capacity several times during the recent grand opening of Morning Glory.
Based on Korean characters Blue Bear and Babu, the small shop offers a wide variety of accessories, stationery, gifts, and a range of sizes of the plush characters, under the partnership of longtime friends Kawakami and Niau.
“Our daughters are good friends, too,” Kawakami said. “We used to go to O’ahu, where they would shop for these items.” It was on one of these trips that the pair decided they would look into the possibility of bringing the popular characters home to Kaua’i.
Operating as a proprietorship, Kawakami explained that they inquired about becoming a dealership, and following a series of interviews, “They gave us the line.” “The kids love it,” an excited Kawakami said between ringing the register, straightening items throughout the store, all the while talking on a cordless phone.
“They’re so happy,” Kawakami said of youngsters who “discover” the store.
“One night,” Kawakami recalls, “A girl and her mother were outside the store after it closed at 9 p.m. The girl needed to do a project for her class that was due the following day, the mom explained. So, we opened up the store for them and turned on the lights so the little girl could get a picture of her (hugging one of the characters) in front of her favorite store.” “It’s not just for kids,” Kawakami adds. “One guy came in and bought this (pointing to a large Babu), and had us wrap it in cellophane for his wife.” Niau, in the meantime, is busy behind the counter, as another wave of after-school shoppers settle on their purchases.
“My mom wants me to buy stuff for her friends,” one shopper explained as she mulled through an assortment of pens and small stationery items, a well-worn shopping list in her hand.
The excitement shared by the partners is contagious, as shoppers are reluctant to leave without making at least one purchase. “Some people come in more than once a day,” Kawakami points out.
“Last Saturday, a group of girls came in on at least three separate times looking for new items.” Kawakami said the shop is not big enough to offer everything in the line, and shipments come in every couple of days.
The partners agree that the shop is not just here for the holidays. “We should look at bigger spaces after the holidays. There are a lot of other items that we can’t offer right now,” because of space considerations, Kawakami said.
“But, we’re here to stay. Kaua’i needed this.” Open from 9:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. from Mondays through Saturdays, Morning Glory follows the mall’s holiday hours through Christmas Eve. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
“We’re tired,” Kawakami says at the end of the day. “But, unlike other jobs, we get excited about coming to work the next day.” Kawakami’s two daughters, Chanel and Mari, both spend time working in the shop, as does Niau’s daughter Trisha.
In addition to the partners and their children, other staff members include Wendy Akiyama, Kristel Balbarino, Kim Inouye and Leslie Womack.
“We’re just happy that everyone is happy,” Kawakami said.
For more information, please call 245-5252.
