From Bali to Brittany, Retailers Bring it Home

Liz Crone decided to start an import business after a trip to Bali in 1989.

“There were just vast opportunities in buying there,” Crone says. “These were incredible craftsmen.”

Crone, who grew up near Christchurch on the south island of New Zealand, has lived in Winslow since 1976.

She and Zoli Perry started Zoleez Imports in 1991. They traveled to Indonesia and returned with a variety of goods that they sold at festivals: Springfest and Autumnfest in Fayetteville, Memphis in May and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Perry moved to New Orleans, and Crone started Lizindo Imports in 1994.

In June 1998, Crone leased a retail building at the corner of Mountain and Church streets in Fayetteville to use as a showroom.

Lizindo Imports sells silver, batik and wood carvings from Bali; furniture from Java; masks from Lombok; and “one-of-a-kind items” from Borneo.

The business is open Thursdays, Fridays and half a day on Saturdays. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Lizindo Imports is open six days a week.

Crone says the festival route was a good way to ease into the import business and not have to worry about maintaining a retail location.

“You learn on a very small scale that way,” she says.