Maui merchandise store opens
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
KAHULUI, Maui — Maui County has opened its first logo shop and hopes to use a portion of the profits to offset the cost of operating its new business resource center, in the same space in Kahului.
Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser
The shop at Maui Mall sells T-shirts, coffee mugs, hats, canvas bags and other Maui County merchandise as well as University of Hawai'i and Made in Maui logo wear. Apparel sporting designs from the police and fire departments and county lifeguards is being sold on consignment from the public safety employees' professional associations.
Freida Harris of the Maui County Store shows off some of the merchandise at the Maui Mall in Kahului.
Maui Community College's Center for Entrepreneurship is operating the Maui County Store, which is serving as a training facility for participants in the Retail Industry Training in Excellence program. The program, sponsored by the Maui Chamber of Commerce and MCC's Visitor Industry Training and Economic Development Center, offers professional sales associate certification.
The Maui County Business Resource Center offices are behind the retail space. It is an extension of the county's Office of Economic Development and provides business owners with classes, access to computers, a library of business publications, business license forms, information on starting a business on Maui and other services.
The county is paying landlord A&B Properties $3,200 a month in rent, while utilities and other operating expenses amount to about $1,000 a month, said Kalbert Young, the county's small business advocate.
Right now, Young is the business resource center's only staff member. He said the county is looking for its partners to provided additional manpower to make sure the center is staffed on a regular basis.
In addition to the chamber and MCC, the county's other partners in the center are Maui Economic Opportunity's Business Development Corp., the Hawai'i Business Research Library, SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), the Hawai'i Family Business Center and the Hawai'i Women's Business Center.
To commemorate last week's opening of the store and business resource center, the county held a logo contest. The winner was Marween Yagin, 23, a 1999 graduate of Baldwin High School and a senior at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, majoring in graphic design.
Yagin created a Hawaiian quilt-like pattern featuring the four islands of Maui County. T-shirts with the design are on sale at the store.
Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
