Forbidden Fruit: Guava Shop

Located in the heart of Haleiwa, the Guava Shop features trendy, ready-to-wear clothing for a day spent sunbathing on the beautiful North Shore beaches to a girls’ night out on the town. North shore locals, Liz Lerner and Kai Cost, opened the Guava Shop, a boutique that offers affordable women’s clothing, accessories, and products for a casual yet fashionable lifestyle. “We always wanted to do this,” Liz said. “Both of us were commuting to town everyday and we did not like the drive and do not like traffic.” It was during their long daily drives to town and back to the North Shore that Liz and Kai developed the idea to open a boutique closer to home.  “We knew it needed it out here,” Liz said. Because most of the stores on the North Shore are surf-centered, “We wanted to do something a little more fashionique, but still have that beachy element,” Kai said.   The Guava Shop’s fashionable, yet laid-back style is a mix of established designers such as INDAH, Ella Moss, and Frankie B. jeans and local designers such as Kai cosmetics, Malie, and a swimwear line called Made by Dawn that the store sells. About three times a year, Liz and Kai travel to Los Angeles to do the Guava Shop’s buying. “We go directly to the designers. We go to every other market in the fashion district in L.A.,” Liz said. “Everything here (at the Guava Shop) you can throw over your suits, then go have a margarita.” As for Liz and Kai, a motto that both women live by is “If you’re unhappy, change it.  We hate our other lives.” Their next step is designing a clothing line, which will be out at the beginning of 2010.
- Dayna Omiya