We Heart Cake Co. has traded its longtime Kaimukī storefront for a bigger kitchen in McCully, and the Honolulu bakery is marking the move with a grand opening celebration on Saturday, August 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first 102 customers who show up will walk away with a free cake pop, while the shop's new lineup includes fresh-baked lava puffs and a growing butter mochi line built on family history and imported flour.
The bakery closed its Kaimukī location, at 3468 Waialae Avenue, at the end of May after about six years there, according to Aloha State Daily. It soft-opened its new spot at 1481 S. King St. in mid-June before settling into its current hours: Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Sundays. Commercial property records show the shop leases Suite 103 inside the Kaheka Professional Center, a 1,322-square-foot ground-floor space, per Colliers International.
A Bigger Kitchen After a Year-Long Search
Owner Kanako Kiyabu spent more than a year looking for a new business space before landing on the King Street site, the station's report notes. The move gives We Heart Cake Co. a much larger kitchen than its Kaimukī location, letting the business make more products while maintaining quality — a shift Kiyabu says was necessary to keep up with production demand.
The Kaheka Professional Center itself is a five-story, 71,778-square-foot commercial complex built in 1955 along Honolulu's dense McCully/Kaheka corridor, according to LoopNet. For customers picking up orders, the shop offers dedicated front parking for up to 30 minutes, along with an attached surface lot accessible via Liona Street.
From a First Birthday Cake to a Retail and Wholesale Business
We Heart Cake Co.'s story goes back to Kiyabu baking her daughter's first birthday cake. The business grew from there after friends and family began asking her to make cakes for their own special occasions, she has said. Kiyabu, who is originally from Tokyo, started crafting custom wedding cakes in Hawaii in 2012 before opening her first brick-and-mortar bakery in Downtown Honolulu in May 2015, according to PoohKo Hawaii. That shop later relocated to Kaimukī in August 2019 to expand from custom-order cakes into daily retail bakery items, as Onolicious Hawaiʻi reported at the time.
Today the menu spans cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, and custom signature “love letter” cakes, which customers must preorder online at least three days in advance through the company's website. Grab-and-go items available at the shopfront include mini meringue cookies priced at $6.50 per package and the bakery's new lava puffs, which come in flavors including red velvet and ube and feature a crispy top with a smooth cream filling. The lava puffs run $4.95 each, or $4 each with a purchase of more than four, Kiyabu says.
Butter Mochi Rooted in Heritage Now Sold Across Oahu
Butter mochi has become a newer treat at We Heart Cake Co., made with high-quality mochiko flour imported from Asia in original, peanut butter, and coconut flavors, Kiyabu says. The dessert itself is a Hawaii staple built by baking glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, butter, sugar, and eggs — a fusion of Japanese rice-cake tradition and island potluck culture, according to PBS Hawaii. Kiyabu has tied the product line to her own Japanese heritage and her fascination with Hawaii's local food culture.
The bakery's butter mochi and daifuku now reach far beyond its own storefront, sold wholesale at 7-Eleven stores, Times Supermarkets, and Aloha Gas stations across Oahu. That wholesale footprint marks a notable jump in scale for a business that started with a single birthday cake, and Kiyabu says We Heart Cake Company is meant to represent love, kindness, care, and the spirit of aloha. Customers can find the full menu and preorder details at weheartcakecompany.com, or reach the shop by phone at 808-533-2253.
