Like mother, like daughter. Gale Sagucio, Niihau shell lei and jewelry maker and proprietress of JJ Ohana, grew up helping her mother, Filomena "Fely" Hashitate, with her businesses.

Hashitate opened Shells of Hawaii at Spouting Horn on Kauai in 1974, and then in 1979 moved to Kekaha and opened Kauai’s Hidden Treasures. Hashitate closed up shop in 1992, before Hurricane Iniki, Sagucio said.

In 1995, Gale started her own line of Niihau shell lei, chokers, bracelets and earrings and hit the craft fair circuit and wholesaled to hotels.

"My mom was telling me, when she closed her shop, ‘you can’t be bringing people home,’ so she found me this place here" in Hanapepe, she chuckled.

Nestled in the historical, artsy town, JJ Ohana opened in 2000 and has twice expanded its space.

Sagucio gets her shells from Niihau. Tiny shells are found on Kauai, but "the quality is different," she said. She has Kauai shells in her shop, "and I show (customers) the difference." Her Niihau shell jewelry comes with a letter of authenticity.

Earrings start at $25 and go up to $350, bracelets range from $75 to $500, chokers range from $100 to $3,000 and necklaces and revered Niihau shell lei range from $750 to $25,000, depending on the number of strands, the style and the color of the shells used.

Sagucio makes the lei and other jewelry but also enlists family and friends in production. She will make jewelry while in the shop during the day, "but I also do it at home," she said.

She also repairs Niihau shell jewelry and accepts custom orders.

In addition her Niihau shell line, Sagucio’s shop sells other styles of jewelry made using various corals and pearls.

The shop also carries JJ Ohana exclusive T-shirts featuring Kalalau Valley "and a lot of things with our town’s name," she said. "A lot of people are born and raised in Hanapepe and always like something special from here," whether they still live in the town or have moved away.

Sagucio also supports the local artisan community by carrying the work of several handcrafters, woodcarvers and other types of artists.

Paintings by Evelyn Ritter, handcrafted wood and resin clocks by Shaning Cierras, koa bowls, other items and jewelry by several artisans, and a line of tikis by the woodcarver known as Huni represent some of the locally produced work found at JJ Ohana.

Gift items range from inexpensive necklaces at two for $3, to local-style luggage tags, place mats and napkins, seat belt covers and made-in-Hawaii stickers and decals from Oahu-based Rubber Stamp Plantation, to Sagucio’s Niihau shell jewelry.

The store has expanded from its original 500 square feet into two spaces next door to one another.

About six years ago "we expanded to food," she said. "We also have a snack shop. … My other half makes chili every day" and creates specials each day as well.

Other half, boyfriend Bryan Maeda, not only prepares and sells food, but took the photo of Gale for this column.

The food service operation has made the shop somewhat of a hangout. Kids will come after school for Icee, for instance, she said.

Her client base is about 50-50 local and visitor, she said, "because sometimes if the tourists stop buying, the locals keep you up," she said.

Of the visitors who shop at her store, many are repeat customers who come every year, she said.

The shop has only two employees, "just me and Bryan," she said. "The only time the shop closes is if we go to the big craft fairs or a buying trip" to the mainland.

While most of the merchandise in her store is made in Hawaii, some of the components for her jewelry, for instance, come from vendors at the mainland trade shows.

Making Niihau shell jewelry that will likely be passed from mother to daughter and on down the generations "is stress relief," she said. "I really like doing it. … I’ve been doing it all my life."

WHERE TO BUY
>> Iolani Palace
>> Mission Houses Museum
>> Honolulu Museum of Art
>> JJ Ohana, 3805-B Hanapepe Road, Hanapepe. 335-0366, www.jj­ohana.com
>> 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday,  8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday

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“Buy Local” runs on Aloha Fridays. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.