Hello all -
I read this board all the time and know a bunch of you. Since there may be a little mystery about what we're attempting to accomplish here, etc. - I thought I would share some thoughts.
Members of my own ohana build these ukuleles for us in Hawaii. Despite our higher profile than many uke brands - my family and the family of some of our reps, artists, and support staff are very involved in what we do.
I have the absolute highest respect for the "K" brands (I don't like grouping them like that, though...) and own four Hawaiian made ukes from that group of absolutely talented builders. They are pieces of art and something for any ukulele player to aspire to. My first ukulele was built by my Great Aunt in Hawaii in the 50's, but between that I owned about a dozen import pieces before taking the step up to buy a full-on Hawaiian made uke by one of the popular brands. It was that aspiration to own one of those pieces that inspired us to create our own collection to be built on O'ahu - and we already had the friends/family/contacts to put it all together. It's been a lot of fun!
I understand how price will always play a factor - but I'm not really interested in being the "cheapest". Our people work as hard as anyone else's and we want to provide our staff here in RVA and in Hawaii with the resources to focus on the quality of their work and build the best instruments and have the best brand possible for the customers that count on us to do just that. We can't do that by cutting corners with price. We are dedicated to providing people with a fun, engaging, quality, and supportive ukulele experience from the time they buy a basic LU-11 on Amazon, to the first time they try a TunaUke, to the day they make an investment in their love of ukulele that will last for generations and buy one of our Makau Ukes. We love what we do and we want to stick with our customers for the whole ride. We're not always perfect - but we do try our best.
We cut our teeth on being a commodity brand and "everything to everyone" - but if you take a closer look, you'll realize that about 90% of our ukes sell for well over $100 now. I also run a brand called "Kohala" which has very much stepped into the place of where Lanikai used to be.
So - if nothing else, I would want to express to this group that we have no interest in "stealing market share" from the wonderful hardworking people at Ko'olau, Kamaka, Kanilea, and KoAloha. We simply have the foundation of customers that we are introducing to Hawaiian made ukuleles for the very first time because we have been lucky enough to build a great foundation all over the USA where most players have never been exposed to this kind of instrument. Our goal is to grow the interest in Hawaiian made ukuleles, provide our customers with our *best* possible instruments, and pay respect to the history and culture behind these little ukes.
So - while in the spirit of an open market I do appreciate the side by side comparisons, it's not really our interest or goal to be above or below others. We do our own thing, and invite anyone interested to come along for the ride.
As for the ukes - anyone interested in trying one out please get in touch! I'll be happy to loan you one if I can - we're still a few months of production away from filling our preorders.