Getting Back to Business Bainbridge Island Style (Part 7) – Kelli Newman Hartline Advanced Color and Design & Alina Korotkina Fine Jewelry

It’s been a long tough road over the last few months, and although we’re not out of the woods just yet, we’re resilient, and slowly—under County and State re-opening guidelines—we’re opening our doors again to the public. Through this series, I’m excited to share the stories of our Island businesses—what they’ve been doing over the last few months and what they have planned going forward (please note: I’ll be featuring at least two businesses per article).

Per state health order 20-03, a facial covering must be worn in both indoor and outdoor public spaces (when you’re within six feet of people outside your household) to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thank you for doing your part to keep our community safe and our businesses open.

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Kelli Newman Hartline Advanced Color and Design is a “suite” hair salon newly created by Kelli Newman Hartline. Kelli has over 30 years’ experience as a hairstylist and is certified as a Redken Master Specialist in hair color and design, she has also pursued advanced education in cutting and color techniques, which includes courses at the prestigious Toni and Guy, Rare, Sassoon and Redken academies. In addition, she’s taught classes in corrective color and hair design. After owning two successful salons in California, Kelli relocated to the PNW six years ago and joined a group salon on Bainbridge Island.

During the lockdown, Kelli reassessed the needs of her clients and her existing business. Her clients, like most of us, expressed their fears of attending a larger venue, something Kelli also felt. The need to make her clients comfortable and feel safe was the driving force in her decision to create her suite salon.  As the sole employee, Kelli has complete control over the environment, which allows her to ensure complete sanitization of the salon before each client visit, as well as providing a more intimate one-on-one experience for her customers.

“I want people to be able to not only have a wonderful hair service, I want them to be able to completely relax and feel very pampered.”

Kelli’s salon is located in the heart of downtown at 345 Knechtel Way NE, Suite 109, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, phone: (360) 930-4227

Appointments can be made online or by phone, to view a full menu of services, click here.

Alina Korotkina opened her new showroom in mid-2019 in the shops at Harbor Square on Winslow Way East. Originally from Russia, Alina came to the U.S. as an exchange student, and after college moved to Chicago, taking a position in the financial industry. However, her need to create was a constant calling, and eventually she founded a jewelry studio in Chicago’s famed Jewelers Row. It was that business that quenched Alina’s desire to create unique and individual jewelry pieces. Ever since, she’s showcased her pieces at trade shows around the world, eventually earning her the 2008 international “Jeweler’s Choice Award” from JCK Magazine of New York, the jewelry industry’s leading trade journal. Today her clientele spans the globe, ranging from celebrities to people just like you and me.

Her classical training inspired her to create an environment for her customers reminiscent of old-world European boutiques—she and her staff do everything from design, metal work, 3D/wax renderings, settings, to the final product, combining the painstaking work of hand craftsmanship with modern laser technology. This concept allows Alina to cut out the middleman, and in turn both save money and ensure the highest quality for her clients. And just like the European boutiques, her process is intimate and by appointment only.

Alina used the lockdown to overhaul her website, using archival photos from a 2009 shoot they did in Chicago as part of the launch of a new line of jewelry.

“I had just launched a new line of necklaces, earrings, and cocktail rings, and the photographer captured this amazing shot of the professional model draped in 90-inches of 18k yellow gold, South Sea pearls, and 150 carats of multi-colored sapphires. It screamed ‘Home Page,’ and so we put her there. We put her also on every page of the website to keep a consistent theme, wearing different pieces from the same line. We were scheduled in July of this year for a new photo shoot in Chicago, this time featuring more diamond and engagement pieces. We had to cancel, which was very frustrating.”

Because Alina’s business model is based on private “appointment only” customer interaction, she was more or less practicing social distancing even before the virus hit, and although that model is still going strong, she does miss the spectacular semi-annual jewelry parties she use to hold for her clients, and unfortunately, those parties will be on hold for the foreseeable future.

I will say this, I was so impressed with Alina when I interviewed her in late December for the January 2020 First Friday Art Walk, that I took an old multi-stone piece to her in early March to have made into individual necklaces for my nieces. When they were complete, the lockdown was in full swing and I was unable to pick them up, so Alina sent me a .jpeg of the finished pendants and they were gorgeous! When I was finally able to collect them, they were even more stunning in person!

**Alina already offers special pricing to active and retired military personnel, and active police officers and fire fighters, and is extending that offer to all health-care workers and other first responders.

Alina Korotkina Fine Jewelry is located in Harbor Square, 752 Winslow Way East, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

By Appointment Only: 206-605-1510,  info@korotkina.com, or log into her online schedule to set an appointment.

*If you’re an island business and would like to share your story, please contact me via the “contact” link in this blog.

*Images provided by Kelli Newman Hartline and Alina Korotkina