Kaimuki Dry Goods, the fabric and sewing-supply shop founded in 1926 next to First Hawaiian Bank on Waialae Avenue before later moving to 10th Avenue in Kaimuki, will close its doors on December 15. Owner Jessie Miller says the decision was difficult and emotional, pointing to tariffs and rising costs as the forces behind the shutdown.
Miller shared the news in a report by KHON2, which detailed the end of a business that has sold fabrics and sewing essentials from its longtime spot on 10th Avenue. The store, located at 1144 10th Avenue, has offered sewing classes and machine repair alongside its fabric and notions counter, according to the shop's own website, kaimukidrygoods.com. Its repair service has specialized in work on embroidery and computerized machines, with complimentary estimates offered to customers, per the same site.
Miller took over the business with her husband, Bill, in 2022, with the couple intending to carry the small business's legacy forward. Bill died in 2024, and Jessie Miller has owned and run the store since. In her statement cited by KHON2, she expressed gratitude to the community, loyal customers, and dedicated employees who have supported the shop.
A Neighborhood Fixture Faces Its Final Weeks
Word of the closure is already rippling through the neighborhood. Georgia Ball, who moved to Kapolei but still visits the store for her sewing machine and fabric needs, learned of the closing when she stopped by this past Monday, per KHON2's reporting. Robi Peterman, who was born and raised in Kaimuki, called the closure a loss of a community fixture and described it as a sign of the times, according to the same report.
Faye, who has shopped at Kaimuki Dry Goods since her teenage years, is among the longtime customers watching the store wind down. Inside the shop, longtime employee Lois Lau has worked there for 13 years, a tenure that spans much of the store's recent history under multiple owners.
Tariffs and Rising Costs Add to a Long Squeeze on Fabric Retail
The pressures Miller cited echo a broader strain that has hit Hawaii's brick-and-mortar retailers for years. Online shopping and lower internet prices have been described as among the biggest factors hurting fabric stores, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which noted that Kaimuki Dry Goods and Mo'ili'ili's Kuni Island Fabrics were among only a handful of fabric shops left in the islands.
That squeeze has widened across Oahu's small-business landscape more recently. Several Oahu businesses were preparing to close this year amid economic pressures affecting local companies, workers and families, Hawaii News Now reported. The Hawaii Restaurant Association said wage increases, while important for workers, also create additional financial pressure for businesses already operating on thin margins, according to the same outlet. Online shopping has also put pressure on fabric stores.
Other Oahu Closures Show a Familiar Pattern
Kaimuki Dry Goods is not the first fabric institution in Honolulu to shut its doors. Kuni Island Fabrics in Mo'ili'ili closed after nearly 50 years in the dry-goods business, according to KITV, which noted the shop had run sewing classes seven days a week before its sewing group moved its meetings to a nearby church. Earlier this year, La Tour Cafe and the Nordstrom Rack in Waikiki also announced closures, Hawaii News Now reported.
Hawaii Creative Sewing has said on its website that it is currently in the process of merging with Kaimuki Dry Goods, though the evidence does not make clear what that merger will mean for the shop's operations once it closes. For now, the countdown to December 15 marks the end of a 10th Avenue storefront that generations of Kaimuki sewers, from teenagers to longtime residents, have called their own.
