Kaunakahakai General Store Opens in Town

Cullen Willing with his mother, Lisa Willing, and Lihau Willing during the grand opening. Photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

There is a new store in town. Kaunakahakai General Store hosted a grand opening with different activities last weekend at Ala Malama Avenue in Kaunakakai, following a soft opening a couple weeks prior.

“We just wanted something where you could buy curated, locally owned goods and support the local economy, and really have a lot more gifting (choices),” Lihau Willing said. “Our brands that we carry in here are all owned by Hawaii-based companies.”

The grand opening Nov. 22 had fun keiki activities, food samples from local vendors, giveaways, discounted products and flash tattoos by local artist Sage Yamashita.

Lihau, who co-owns the store with her mother-in-law, Lisa Willing, said she wants to support Hawaii’s economy as much as possible, and at the same time offer something “a little bit different,” a shopping experience in a boutique-style.

The store’s minimalist, elegant décor works to highlight the eclectic choice of handpicked products. You’ll find classy clothing for men and women, tasteful beach gear, children’s gift, books, snacks, hair clips, kitchen stuff, manicure products and much more. 

“That’s why we wanted to call it General Store; because we have a whole variety of things. A one-stop shop for all sorts of different things,” Lihau said.

She wanted to emphasize a good chunk of the products they carry are made in Hawaii, and a few are made elsewhere only because some things just can’t be made locally. However, all the brands are Hawaii-owned. That way, Lihau said, at least the bulk of the money is staying in Hawaii.

Lihau had the idea of opening the store because of her own shopping experiences. Sometimes it is challenging to find last minute gifts on Molokai, she said, especially if you want to support local product makers. She also wanted a relaxing shopping experience for residents, an enjoyable space where shoppers could have fun looking for meaningful gifts from the island.

This is the first retail store the duo opens. Lisa is a real estate agent, and Lihau has an online CBD business.

A true family venture, other immediate ‘ohana members are involved at Kaunakahakai General Store. Lisa’s son, Cullen, also works at the store. And she said she wanted to give a pitch to her husband, Otto Willing, who is a carpenter and played a “big part” in the store.

“He made all our displays,” Lisa said, adding he also built the rolling tables and other wooden structures.

Lihau said they will try to order in small batches, and keep bringing different products to rotate their inventory. Just in the two weeks between their soft and grand openings, they added 20 different new items.

“People come in, they can come in again a couple weeks later, we might have something different. We’ll always try to keep it fresh and new,” Lihau said.

Also, they are open to talk with local businesses owners about new wholesale or consignment accounts. Since the store’s inventory is so diverse, there is room for a wide range of products, she said.

The store’s name has already caused questioning from some customers, intrigued with the “ha” in the middle of Molokai’s most recognized town. It was definitely not a typo. Rather, it was to highlight a piece of Kaunakakai’s forgotten history. 

“Kaunakahakai is actually one of the old names of Kaunakakai,” Lihau said. “It was shortened down to Kaunakakai.”

Visit www.kaunakahakaigeneralstore.com for more information.