Nikki’s Alterations

I try not to give many 5-​star reviews anymore due to not wanting to overhype things, but in Nikki’s case with all things considered, she deserves the credit, all the great comments are true.
I walked into Nikki’s shop at 4:50 pm on Monday – she was still sewing, not even getting ready to jet for the day. I needed 2 pairs of jeans hemmed so she had me try them on, measured and pinned just one pair of them, gave me the pickup slip and said they’d be ready by Wednesday. This probably took 5 minutes and most of that was me changing in the curtained area. She even asked if I needed them sooner but I told her Wednesday was fine.
Went in this afternoon and it took her all of 3 minutes to find them and make change for my $ 20. The total was $ 16, a steal at this speed of service. I tried them on at home and she even nailed the length exactly as I wanted it. I asked her to leave it a little bit long because, jeans, and she got it perfect.
It’s a hole-​in-​the-​wall shop, very small at probably 150 sq. ft. and it’s cash only, maybe she takes checks too. Yes, parking is a little bit of a chore but so is everything else in Ctown so no worries.
Thanks, Nikki!

Dropped off 8 pairs of very expensive jeans Diesel, Joe and Seven jeans to be hemmed and tapered and she had them done in one day! The price was only $ 46 dollars! Unbelievable! She does amazing work! The Best place to have jeans hemmed or anything sewn or fixed clothing wise!

This place is great and fast. My husband dropped off my maternity jeans on Thursday mid morning and it was ready by Saturday. I had 3 pairs of jeans that needed 3 inch hemming. She kept the nice original stitch at the bottom. Total cost is $ 21. Seems like it’s $ 7/​pants. Great deal for a good job. She’s very friendly and easy to talk to. Highly recommend this place and will go back if I have more clothes to hem.

Thank you Unilocal for finding this hidden gem! I needed alterations on 2 pants for a trip I was taking in a few days. Checked Unilocal and found Nikki’s. See the photos in an earlier review for the storefront sign. Just go thru the glass doors and her shop is on your left. Asked when my pants could be ready and she said tomorrow (!). Wow! No extra fees for fast turn around! Total came out to $ 16 for the 2 pants and it was ready as promised the next morning. Everything looked and felt great. Will be taking my future business here! Street parking is difficult but there is a lot about a block away on Maunakea that charges $ 2 for half an hour.

Unilocal 100 Review Challenge 2015: ⁸⁸⁄₁₀₀
My fiancé can be quite the procrastinator sometimes and with a special event coming up, leave it to him to wait for the very last moment to get his pants hemmed.
It was a Thursday when he gave me two (chino) pants to be hemmed about 4 inches each. I had called here and there to ask for pricing and turnover time because… did I mention we needed these pants by 5:30am that Saturday morning?! No luck in same-​day turnover and if they did offer same-​day, it was going to cost me an arm and probably both my legs! Because I work downtown, I decided to Unilocal around and Nikki’s Alteration popped up. I called her around 9am and she promised she could have the pair hemmed by Friday evening, which was cutting it close for us, but procrastinators don’t deserve to be picky!
I made the 10 minute walk to Chinatown and thanks to the Unilocal photos I was easily able to find this place next to a flower shop. Upon entering, she kindly greeted me and I gave her the pants which were already measured to be hemmed. After she had a look at the pants she asked me what time I finished work, THAT DAY and said to come back after work and it should be done. Same day turnover?! No extra charge?! I must be dreaming! So sure enough I headed back to Nikki’s after work (8 hours later) and the two pants were perfectly hemmed. She charged me $ 14 total for both pants, that’s $ 7/​pants!!! OMG unbelievable. Not only is she super friendly and sweet but her service is professional too. Next time I need alterations done, quick (hopefully I won’t procrastinate again, but let’s be real here) you bet I am going to pay Nikki’s Alteration a visit!
p. s. When I arrived at 4:30pm the main gate/​door was closed, which led me to believe Nikki’s Alterations were closed, but instead you have to walk through the flower shop to get to Nikki’s.

So, I love her prices and I loved that she did 2 pants and a skirt for $ 25. The only thing that it is hard to find parking! I had to circle around about 3 times to get parking further down the street. You can park at the municiple parking lots.
The second time I came she told me to come back after she came back from Vacation. I told her if she could just hold my items because I did not want to come back to drop off and find parking. She said no, she didn’t want to forget about it. I was pretty furstrated to have found and paid for street parking only for her to come back to drop it off after she came back from vacation…
I ended up taking it to Linda’s alterations…

Like my fellow Unilocalers have pointed out this is a real hole in the wall alterations shop but they are open on Saturdays and will do rush same-​day jobs so that’s why I went there. I needed a Halloween costume hemmed and she did it right away and for $ 7.00! Will definitely use her again!

AMAZING! I have found my go-​to alteration place.
Needed pants hemmed for a 5:30pm dinner.
Called at 12 and asked if she did same day. She replied, «What do you have? How many?»
I explained that I had just one pair of pants (not denim). She said, «well, I’m a little busy, but I can do.»
I arrived at 1pm, dropped off the pants, had phở 2 blocks away (@ To Chau – my fav), and the pants were done in 30 minutes.
Upon paying, it was $ 7.00 even.
Unheard of: Quick, quality, and dirt cheap (plus no same-​day fee).
Not sure of her hours, but she mentioned she was going to be open until 6pm that day (which was a Saturday).
Quick tip: The storefront is not on Mauna Kea St. You need to walk into a little in-​door hallway located near the corner of Mauna Kea and King. See my pics for further explanation.

I will use Nikki’s alterations as long as I live in Honolulu. I needed two pairs of pants lengthened (an odd request in Hawaii, I know) and I first went to a chain dry cleaner/​alterations place for an estimate. They told me I’d need to pay a 20% rush fee to get the pants back within 5 business days. I agreed, but then they asked me if I wanted the pants lengthened «on both legs.» I took that as a sign to go elsewhere. I consulted Unilocal,and luckily, I found Nikki’s. The woman who works there was incredibly nice, and said she would have the pants back to me in 3 business days. On top of that, she quoted me a price that was less than ¹⁄₃ of what the other store quoted me (even before the extra rush fee). She did both pairs for a total of $ 15, and they look and fit great. This is exactly the type of small business I want to support, and (unless you enjoy overpaying at corporate chain stores) you should support her too!

I «thought» I had ordered THE ONE — the perfect pair of jeans. I tried on the «regular size» in the mall but the inseam was too long, so the gal suggested I purchase the «short» version on-​line. Their «short» version is made for someone, oh say 5’7″ because I still needed to cut several inches. (All the heelz in the world wasn’t going to cut it!)
I live in Kailua and we’re held captive by a couple seamstresses. One in particular is kinda cranky and everything in Kailua is just too expensive! My jeans were going to be costing me $ 20– $ 25 more just for the hem.
I thought I’d rely on my fellow Unilocalers to see what else was out there. I’m all about supporting the non-​commercial businesses and since I work in downtown, walking to Chinatown wasn’t a problem.
If this little shop is able to work on wedding gowns, hemming a pair of pants is a walk in the park right? This little hole-in-da’-wall is SLAMMING with business! She’s got clothing in bags with tags for people to pick up like a bookstore owns books! She was very quick to make those chalk lines and HOLY COW — I dropped it of on Friday and told me to pick them up on Monday. That’s the quickest turn around time for alterations ever!!! This gal doesn’t sleep?
I brought 3 pairs of pants — jeans x 2 and slinky pants material that would get eaten by a sewing machine if you don’t know what you’re doing. I was a little weary with the «quick» chalk marks that it wouldn’t be right, but guess what? It’s the PERFECT length. She had asked me what height shoes I’d wear with it, and I do like my heelz, but I don’t want them to be ridiculously long when I walk barefoot at home. She had the length right in all 3 pairs — very consistent! The finish looked just like the originals were — very professional.
GUESS who much all 3 pairs cost to hem??? $ 21! Holy cow! She’s definitely incentivizing me to look at shopping in a whole new perspective now that I incorporate her cheap costs into it!

Just picked up my bridesmaid dress and its perfect!
I dropped it off on a Thursday and needed it in 1 week because I was going off island for the wedding. She told me she could have it done by Monday and kept her word!
I needed to cut off about 4 inches from a long chiffon type of dress which always needs to be done just right to cover the shoes and not drag on the floor. She did just that and only charged me $ 25.
I would definitely return again.
P. S. She takes cash or check.

This place is great. I got some jeans hemmed and it was a great price and super fast. I would highly recommend this place to anyone who cannot find clothes that fit off the rack.

I love this place!!!
I first came here because I was recommended by another large dress shop to check this place out. I was in desperate need to get my bridesmaid dress altered that was huge at a size 10 and where im a size 1. I went to Sears who said they werent able to alter the dress because of the construction of the dress so was stressing out until I found this place. Nikkis alteration was a lifesaver and did a wonderful job despite the complicated structure of the dress. I even came back to her when I wanted to get the dress shortened into a mini.
Its so convenient because I can just come by & just drop off my clothes to get altered. I never had to make an appointment or wait in lines.
This place is literally a hole in the wall but is well worth it & is inexpensive.

This place is GREAT! i just took 2 pairs of pants to be hemmed, one got taken in, and another a button got sewn on and it only costed me $ 20. Nikki is very nice and its a small little whole in the wall place. Its pretty convenient in chinatown where there are parking lots and plenty of street parking. Im definitely going to go back there!

Literally, a hole-​in-​wall. Located in Chinatown, inside a subdivided space behind a florist is a ‘stall’ where you will find Nikki’s Alterations. I was first introduced to go seek her because the price of alteration was going up at the more commercialized places, and where I was originally going was too far when I started to work in town. Many of us know that parking can be a pain when it comes to Ctown. But there’s a municipal parking lot right across the street, next to Cindy’s Lei Stand. I usually have my hem set when I drop it off to her or my drop off is fast, so my parking is within grace period.
I have been going to Nikki’s for about 5 years now. I’m usually not in a rush to have my things done, but Nora is usually fast about it. And she’s affordable. I’ve had jeans and trousers hemmed, dresses re-​structured — all done with great quality. I love her work, her professionalism and her price. I love supporting small local businesses, especially when they deserve it. I highly recommend her to anyone!

I had high hopes for this place due to the TWO 5-​star reviews. HA!
Hidden inside the internal hallways of the building on the corner of Maunakea and King Street is Nikki’s Alterations. A lei shop fronts the entrance way to this single-​roomed, large closet-​sized alteration spot. I brought in a cocktail dress that needed tightening and hemming (total cost $ 25). I was told she needed a week to complete it because it wasn’t exactly a rush project. I came back the following Monday and was told she didn’t get a chance to work on it and to come back Tuesday. On Tuesday afternoon I received a call telling me that she will be closing up shop early to pick up her daughter from school. I arrived at the shop Wednesday early afternoon. It took her several minutes to locate my dress which was piled along other garments located inside random shopping bags. While I tried the dress on, she was on her cell and continued to talk on her cell until I handed over the check (credit card not accepted).
All-​in-​all the work was a little sloppy, customer service skills was a lil weak, and tideyness is a poor. I pay for what I get. Lesson learned!

I’ve been coming here for almost 2 years now (dang, why didn’t I remember to Unilocal her!!!) And tho its unfortunately that another had a bad experience, I’ve had nothing but great encounters here.
What everyone else said, affordable, fast and quality. Then again, I usually only come here for pants hemming and have not brought in a cocktail dress. But $ 5 to hem regular pants (no fancy fabric or cuffing etc), $ 7 for jeans? NICE!!! All other places charge $ 12 and up for the same thing. So, I guess the lesson from all this is to come here with a flexible time frame and only pants that need taken up! =) My recap:
Pros:
–Super affordable
–The owner has always been accomodating to me, only 1x something wasn’t done on time, but there was a good reason for it.
–Great work on all the pants she’s given me, nothing has unraveled, frayed, lines are straight etc…
–The owner is very nice. Funny, because I forget her name but it’s not Nikki, that’s her daughter’s name.
Cons:
–Her scheduling can be tricky so make sure you’re on the same page as when you’re pick up time is etc.
–Due to logistics, your clothes will smell like incense when you pick it up. lol.

Fast, efficient, & inexpensive. What more could you ask from an alterations service. I gave her 3 pairs of pants on a thursday to have length taken up, and asked her if it was possible to get 1 of the more difficult pants done by Saturday. I went for pick up on Saturday and she had all 3 done. An added bonus, total cost was only $ 22 with original hem attached!!! She even hand stitched my silk lined pants. They are impeccable.
She is an angel!
I highly recommend this awesome alterations service. She is located right next to Lin’s Lei Shop in Chinatown on Maunakea St.