Balsam Hill Studio Expands with Second Store Opening in Honolulu, Hawaii

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 16, 2025--

Balsam Brands ® is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its second Balsam Hill Studio store, soon to be welcoming guests at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Following the success of its flagship store in Maui, this new location opening on July 1, 2025, brings the signature quality and magic of Balsam Hill Studio to Oahu—just in time for Hawaii’s summer vacation season.

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More than a store, Balsam Hill Studio is a destination for year-round memory-making and gift giving. Each shop offers a thoughtfully curated collection of handcrafted, vacation-themed Christmas ornaments designed to reflect the spirit and story of its location. These souvenirs aren’t just gifts—they’re beautiful mementoes for storytelling and reflection. Whether it's purchased on a family trip, honeymoon, or bucket-list adventure, each ornament is designed to become a tangible reminder of a moment worth remembering.

“We are so excited to bring the magic of Balsam Hill Studio from Maui to our inaugural location on Oahu at Ala Moana Center. We know that our handcrafted ornaments are especially popular with kamaʻāina and Ala Moana is the perfect place to be” said Mac Harman, founder and CEO of Balsam Brands.

The store is located at 1450 Ala Moana Center, Street Level 1, Center Court, and will be open daily from 10:00 am – 8:00 pm. For more information, please visit www.balsamhillstudio.com. The Oahu community is invited to celebrate this milestone on July 1, 2025, at 10:00 am, at a special grand opening event with a traditional store blessing and ribbon cutting. The grand opening event is free, and all are welcome to attend.

Balsam Brands is the parent company of Balsam Hill, a brand known worldwide for its lifelike artificial Christmas trees and premium seasonal décor. With its growing network of Balsam Hill Studio stores, the company is on a mission to spread joy, elevate traditions, and help customers capture the magic of every special journey—one keepsake at a time.

AboutBalsam Brands

The flagship brand of US-headquartered Balsam Brands is Balsam Hill ( www.balsamhill.com ), founded by Mac Harman in 2006 with the goal of creating the most lifelike, highest-quality artificial Christmas trees for customers and businesses around the world. With a focus on craftsmanship, it’s the extraordinary details of a Balsam Hill tree that bring joy to Christmas celebrations for years to come. After 19 years of growth, Balsam Hill’s product offering has expanded to include ornaments, holiday greenery, and seasonal décor, with owned and operated websites in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, and Canada.

Handcrafted glass ornaments from Balsam Hill Studio transform souvenirs into storytelling treasures.

Handcrafted glass ornaments from Balsam Hill Studio capture the wonder of Hawaii’s marine life.

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish court acquitted Shakira in a tax fraud case, ordering the government to return more than 55 million euros ($64 million) in wrongly imposed fines, a court document seen Monday by The Associated Press said.

The decision follows years of tax troubles in Spain for the Colombian superstar.

The ruling relates to a dispute over the 2011 tax year in which Spanish tax authorities did not prove that the singer was a resident of Spain, the Madrid-based court said in its decision.

For a person to be considered a tax resident in Spain, she must spend more than 183 days in the country.

Spanish authorities were only able to prove that Shakira lived in Spain that year for a total of 163 days, the court said, ordering the Treasury to reimburse the singer the tax paid plus interest.

“There was never any fraud, and the Tax Agency itself was never able to prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true," Shakira said in a statement provided by her lawyers.

Spain's Treasury is to reimburse the singer 60 million euros (almost $70 million), including interest, Shakira’s lawyer said.

“This resolution comes after an eight-year ordeal that has taken an unacceptable toll, reflecting a lack of rigor in administrative practices,” her lawyer, José Luís Prada, said in a statement.

Spain's tax authorities have over the past decade or so cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes. Those players were found guilty of tax evasion but avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.

FILE - Shakira performs during the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 27, 2025. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)