Nine years after Lia Davis Lombara, of Marblehead joined forces with her daughters Lexi Colby Lombara and Taylor Davis Lombara to found their glass enamel jewelry company Colby Davis of Boston, the company opened its first retail store on one of Boston’s busiest commercial streets.
At the business’ new 33 Newbury St. location, which opened in September, Lombara and her daughters pointed to the array of glass cases containing an array of gold and silver jewelry pieces from necklaces with intricately-engraved glass enamel necklaces, to shining bracelets and brooches.
In 2014, Lombara and her daughters were on a family vacation in Greece. Lombara, who owned her own jewelry line roughly 10 years prior to the family trip, wanted to get back into the business — this time with her 15-year-old daughters.
“It was time for the girls to get jobs. They were at that age where they could get up and start either babysitting or working for different restaurants or serving ice cream. I said ‘Would you like to join me and start a company together?’ and they said ‘yes.’ ”
Starting with online sales, Colby Davis of Boston grew to attract customers at specialty shows and boutiques across the country. Today, Lombara said the brand’s uniquely-crafted glass enamel jewelry can be found in more than 35 retail spaces throughout the country.
Although the jewelry’s signature process posed initial challenges at the company’s nascent stage, it eventually evolved into a high-quality, made-in-Massachusetts product that Lombara said pays homage to its New England roots with its nautical imagery.
“The beginning was challenging because we work with the glass enamel process, which is extremely challenging. If you don’t get the exact process correctly, it can crack or chip” Lombara said. “Ours is really the best quality glass enamel that you’ll see in the country… It’s everything related to New England, the coast, the ocean, the beach —everything we love.”
The Boston boutique also sells products from a number of local artisans, including paintings by the Marblehead artist Forrest Rodts, which hang on the wall and can be purchased at the Newbury Street store.
Taylor, who balances working as a nurse with her sales job at the new Newbury Street location, said working with her mother gave her the opportunity to help grow a business from the ground up.
“It was definitely a really cool opportunity to work with our mom, and then also to be a women-run company I think was really empowering at such a young age,” Taylor said. “It was really nice to be able to do that in high school and continue to do that through our lives in college and now our adult years.”
Lexi Lombara, who serves as an advisor for business operations, development, and strategic marketing, said that while her high school friends worked jobs at local restaurants or ice cream parlors, she was forging a career.
Now, as she forges a career in the restaurant management business, Lexi said the experience of starting and running a successful company with her mother taught her valuable skills that she said she wouldn’t have been able to attain with a standard summer job.
“They [Lexi’s high school friends] were just working, obviously, to make some money and we’ve had a chance to make some money but also do something that we could potentially do more with. It wasn’t just going to work, it was a career,” Lexi said.
Now, as the family business settles into its Newbury Street location, Lombara added her son PJ to the team as a designer. The family crew, now working in preparation for a holiday party planned for Dec. 14.
Lombara said that while she can envision her business expanding in the future, the Colby Davis company is currently focused on making the most of its new storefront.
“It will definitely continue to grow and potentially to other stores. Right now, we’re just really happy with what we’ve got going on, but we’re open for anything in the future and in the next four years. I see us doing other stories,” Lombara said.
