Ask Claudio Fernandez, owner of the Bali Moon Hawaii showroom in Haleiwa, what brought him to the North Shore, and his answer will be as much existential as it is redundant.

“To surf. I surf. I am a surfer.”

The next question is why he chose to locate a retail furniture business so far from the rest of the market. Fernandez is ready with an answer for this, also.

“Because this is where I live,” he says. “I live 10 minutes from my shop; my two boutiques are within 200 yards of each other. The lifestyle is very tranquil.”

His Bali Moon Hawaii showroom, just a few hundred yards from Haleiwa Beach Park, is packed with Indonesian furniture, as well as Indian housewares. Located in converted residential space behind his clothing shop, Matahari, Bali Moon features only high-end pieces, including sofas, chaise lounges and coffee tables, as well as hand-made paintings and pottery.

A fashion designer by trade, Fernandez came to the North Shore from Brazil 20 years ago, and has operated the successful Haleiwa boutiques Matahari and Bali Moon for the past 10. He started retailing Southeast Asian furnishings after several surfing expeditions to Indonesia. Bali Moon has three exclusive furniture lines—one composed of recycled teak and another of rattan and wicker. The third line, made of kiln-dried teak in Indonesia, is owned by Fernandez.

“I got frustrated with the [industry’s] lack of quality,” says Fernandez. “So, I got into it myself.” Besides the ability to custom-design furniture, production-line control allows him to oversee quality. This, in turn, is why it doesn’t matter where his showroom is—people who are looking for quality will find it.

“I’m sticking to what I do; I only do very, very nice stuff. Then, people come to me,” says Fernandez, who recommends that customers shop around first.

Owner Claudio Fernandez enjoys the Bali Moon showroom’s relaxed environment on the North Shore.

Within six months to a few years, low-quality teak will “show its face” and crack or fade, says Fernandez. And, low-quality teak won’t survive kiln-drying, a process that takes months to precisely temper the wood’s humidity and thereby ensuring its longevity.

“It’s a process that nobody does, because it takes time. The real commodity I need for a custom job is time,” Fernandez says.

Can’t wait for a custom job, and don’t see what you are looking for at Bali Moon Hawaii? Retail space is the one thing lacking on the North Shore, for which Fernandez forgives his neighborhood. Fortunately, he’s got backup. “We’ve got a huge warehouse full of inventory in Waialua, just down the road.”