Lia Lombara and her mother, Dorothy Davis, owned the popular boutique, Windsor & Davis Homestyles, in Newburyport for 13 years. It was a labor of love working together while selling specialty gifts and home décor.
During that time, there was another labor of love that greatly impacted Lombara’s life. The birth of not one, not two, but three children . . . all at once. Yes, triplets! On September 12, 1998, Lia and her husband, John, welcomed her two daughters, Lexi and Taylor, and son, PJ, to the world.
As you can imagine, Lombara’s life changed dramatically, but some might be surprised to learn that she continued to run the Newburyport store. “As they got older, the kids, especially the girls, loved coming to the store and helping me and their grandmother with the displays and stocking shelves,” says Lombara.
As school, sports, and other activities became more important to the children, Lombara decided to close the store so she could spend more time with them. While she loved staying at home and actively participating in her children’s lives, Lombara, who has a fine arts degree from Boston College and a jewelry minor from School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, couldn’t get the thought of creating jewelry and opening another business off her mind.
On a family vacation in Greece, Lombara came up with the idea for Colby Davis of Boston, a company focused on creating pendants, necklaces, and other fine jewelry inspired by moments of everyday life. The moniker is a nod to her daughters’ middle names.
At that time the triplets were 15 years old, and the idea of creating another mother-daughter business intrigued Lombara. This time, however, she was the mother, and Lexi and Taylor would be the daughters in the venture. The girls quickly said yes, and in a matter of months they were ready to sell their products, starting with their signature glass enamel pendants which are individually fired and hand-engraved to capture their originality.
For the last nine years the team has been selling beautifully designed jewelry online, at specialty shows, and in boutiques across the country, but their dream was to open a retail store on Newbury Street in Boston. In 2020, the trio found a space, but with the uncertainty of a global pandemic, which was in its early days, the timing wasn’t right. The search continued, and the timing was right this past September when they opened their flagship store at 33 Newbury Street.
Starting and running a business at such a young age has been a learning experience that Lexi and Taylor have treasured and applied to other aspects of their lives. Now 25 years old, Taylor and Lexi are still very involved in the business while also pursuing their own careers. Lexi serves as an adviser for business operations at Colby Davis of Boston while also holding a full-time job as an assistant project manager at a company focused on the hospitality industry. Taylor works as a registered nurse at a major Boston hospital and serves as a member of the sales team at the flagship store.
“I love showing customers our unique enamel designs to help make them feel confident, happy, and beautiful,” she says. “It is important for customers to know that each pendant is individually fired to capture the originality and craftsmanship that goes into making glass enamel jewelry of the highest quality,” says Lexi Lombara. “From the hand-engraving and glass-enameling process to the sterling silver chains and 18K gold embellishments, every piece of Colby Davis jewelry is 100 percent made in the USA.”
“Our Newbury Street store also carries select products from other companies that have been curated to complement the Colby Davis brand, including stunning prints by Forrest Rodts, Nantucket baskets by Patti Baker, both of Marblehead, and beautiful handcrafted jewelry by Whale Tail Weavers from Winchester,” adds Taylor Lombara. The store also sells 727 Sailbags from France and custom-made blazers from Blazers by Design in Germany.
As the business expands, so does the founders’ desire to give back. In October, they launched “Pendants with a Purpose,” a new campaign where customers can purchase a specialized pendant each month, and a percentage of the sale benefits a nonprofit organization.
The campaign’s first beneficiary was Casa Myrna, Boston’s largest provider of shelter and supportive services to survivors of domestic violence, in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “In November we decided to support the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund because my father is currently battling the disease,” says Lombara.
“Every month we plan to choose a charity that is important to us or our customers to make an impact that is both personal and meaningful.” “Being able to do what I love with the people that I love is a dream come true,” says Lombara. “I hope this tradition of mothers and daughters working together in our family continues for generations to come.”