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.
| Bali Moon Hawaii
66-082 Kamehameha Hwy., Haleiwa
Open: Daily from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Tel: 637-0012
www.balimoonhawaii.com
|
“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.”
