She plans to take over Native Books & Beautiful Things at Ward Warehouse in August without any of her 17 former partners, rename it Native Books Na Mea Hawai'i and try to pump new energy into the 'ewa corner of the center by organizing Hawaiian music concerts every Sunday.

The move to take control of the store without her partners of the past five years makes business sense, Meyer said, and will consolidate her book and retail operations into a central location.

"What I'm trying to do is survive," she said. "I'm spread too thin. I'm trying to make a smart business decision."

But the change comes at great sacrifice for Meyer.

It will mean closing the Native Books store in Kalihi that she considers the soul of her business dealings. And it's an acknowledgment that Meyer's idealistic business model didn't work.

"I'm stupid," she said. "Sometimes I have too much wishful thinking."

Meyer, a 47-year-old Native Hawaiian civic, artistic and cultural leader, also has a master's degree in business administration from UCLA.

She formed Native Books & Beautiful Things in 1995 on democratic principles that seemed in keeping with her background growing up amid a large Hawaiian family in Kailua.

She assumed all of the debt for the original Native Books & Beautiful Things and three years later divided the licensing of the name among the partners for $1.

It was supposed to represent the way Meyer thought businesses could be run in Hawai'i. Instead, the hui of 18 partners fell apart amid quarrels, resentment and disagreements over the direction of the business.

The low point came just before Christmas, when Meyer opened a new shop of Hawaiiana crafts, clothing and books on Merchant Street called Na Mea Hawai'i. For years, Meyer unsuccessfully had pushed the other partners to open a store downtown just for the holidays.

But within weeks, her partners in Native Books & Beautiful Things started a competing store 100 yards down the block.

At the time, Meyer predicted that both stores would suffer in competition for similar customers.

The other partners of Native Books have decided not to renew their short-term lease.

Meyer had projected revenue of $30,000 per month for her Na Mea site. Instead, she only once reached as high as $28,000.

She said she figures she either needs someone to pump in cash quickly as a partner, or she may have to close the store.

"All of us were responsible for the group's success but also for its failure," said Donna Burns, one of the original partners. "It's up to each one of us to figure out what part we played in it ending."

Burns, who makes hand-painted and hand-screened clothes and other goods, is one of the few partners committed to keep selling products with Meyer solely in charge.

"The rest of the partners have decided to move on," said Grant Kagimoto, owner of Cane Haul Road, which sells gift cards, silk-screened T-shirts, aprons, dish towels and other items.

Kagimoto prefers not to dwell on how the relationship between the partners ended, but he said "everybody was equally sincere and intelligent and hard working. When you work in a group like that, it takes a lot of energy, and people were just running out of steam."

Meyer's new plan calls for her to close the 12-year-old, 2,000-square-foot Native Books site in Kalihi near some of the institutions that she believes are critical to Hawaiian education — the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center, Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools. On Monday, she also sold her Bookends store in Kailua to its manager.

Meyer will continue to run the 100-square-foot Na Mea Hawai'i kiosk at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Na Mea store in Lahaina. But the heart of her business will focus on the Ward Warehouse site she and her former partners opened in 1998.

No cash will change hands. Instead, Meyer will take over the partners' lease after it expires in August.

She wants to turn the Ward Warehouse courtyard stage over every Sunday to Hawaiian musicians, whose CDs will be available inside the store. She hopes the free performances eventually will expand beyond Sundays and become a family alternative to the bustling activity down the street surrounding the Ward Stadium 16 theaters.

"I can create a whole other venue," Meyer said. "You can't have Hawaiian music in front of a crowd of 10,000 people who want to be overstimulated in front of a movie theater and Dave & Busters."

Leslie Brown, senior leasing manager for Victoria Ward Ltd., said she would have been disappointed if Native Books had closed when the partners' lease expires because it "keeps a community balance."

"It not only energizes that end of the center," Brown said, "but also keeps bringing into Ward the Hawaiian culture that Maile and the rest of the partners have always been committed to."

By consolidating, Meyer hopes to push her revenue out of the $850,000 level she's been at for years and into the $1-million-per-year strata.

Hovering at "$850,000 is the dead zone," Meyer said. "It's not enough to pay off debt and really expand. My vendors (book suppliers) are tired of me, and I have to repair those relationships."

Whatever happened in the past and whatever happens in the future, Burns is happy with Meyer's vision.