JANUARY 7, 2015 - VOLUME 31, ISSUE 1
The
Molokai Dispatch T H E I S L A N D ’S N E W S S O U R C E S I N C E 198 5
Family Revives Salon in Maunaloa
Molokai Boy Chosen for Samoa Bowl By Colleen Uechi | Staff Writer
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Photos by Colleen Uechi
By Colleen Uechi | Staff Writer
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rowing up, Leilani Kadowaki was bewildered by beauty salons. In her hometown of Maunaloa, there was a salon called Sheer Delight, and when people went in and emerged with new hairstyles, it puzzled her. “[I said,] ‘What are you guys doing in there, getting your hair all permed up in those curly things? The lady looks scary,’” Kadowaki remembers with a laugh. More than 20 years later, hairstyling is one of her passions, and she and her family are bringing the beauty business back to her hometown. Michelle and Raymond Hiro, Kadowaki’s aunt and uncle, helped her open a salon on 100 Maunaloa Highway, in the same spot as the salon of her childhood, which was converted into a Molokai Ranch security office and later went unused for more than a decade, according to Raymond.
The family’s business, Maunaloa Salon, officially opened on Nov. 22, offering hair and nail services for men, women and keiki. For Kadowaki and the Hiros, it was the perfect crossroads of talent and opportunity. According to Michelle, she and her husband had been looking for more business opportunities and felt a salon would meet a big need on Molokai. They also knew Kadowaki, a licensed hairstylist and nail technician, wanted to return to Molokai after living on Hawaii Island for nearly 10 years, so they decided to fund the salon. “She always missed the island,” Raymond said. “The majority of our family lives on Molokai. [We wanted] our niece Leilani to be able to come back home and do what is her passion, and at the same time raising her children.” Michelle, who owns Molokai Cellular in downtown Kaunakakai, has experience with business, while Raymond is the maintenance manager at Molokai
Illustration by Laura Pilz
By Colleen Uechi | Staff Writer
Molokai Metric and Rainbow Ride
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Samoa Bowl Continued pg. 3
How local retail stores are staying afloat in a small market
Dispatch
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Salon Continued pg. 3
The Molokai Business Model
THIS WEEK’S
Addressing Overfishing
Ranch and was able to work on the water pipes in the salon. “It kinda worked out,” said Michelle. “It’s not like we never did this kind of stuff before.” While on Hawaii Island, Kadowaki apprenticed at Supercuts and attended Hytec School of Cosmetology. At the salon, she offers nearly 30 different hair and nail treatments, including buzz cuts, hair highlights, hot stone pedicures, gel polish manicures and eyebrow waxing. Since Molokai Ranch closed down in 2008 and left 120 residents without jobs on the west end, Maunaloa has been “a ghost town,” said Michelle. Raymond explained that he’s noticed a trend of businesses rising and falling in the town and hopes that the salon, along with neighboring businesses and the Ranch, can continue to grow and bring
hanks to his athletic talents, his heritage and more than 170 chicken katsu plates, local boy Ha`aloha Tanielu Aikala-Falealii became the first Farmer to represent Molokai football in American Samoa. Aikala-Falealii, a senior at Molokai High School, was selected to play for Team Hawaii in the Samoa Bowl, an annual game that pits Hawaii’s best Samoan football players against American Samoa’s all-stars. In the Samoa Bowl XII on Dec. 27, Team American Samoa won, 12-6. Part Hawaiian and part Samoan, Aikala-Falealii was able to honor both of his cultures in the Bowl, said his father, Sepulona Aikala-Falealii. Sepulona, a police officer, grew up in American Samoa, a U.S. territory with about 55,000 people and said most of his family still lives there. They attended the Samoa Bowl to cheer Ha`aloha on. “It’s pretty exciting, especially [going] for Christmas, because I can spend it with my grandpa,” said Ha`aloha before the game. He said the last time he’d been to American Samoa was around middle school. Samoa Bowl organizers first notified the family that Ha`aloha had been selected in the middle of November. The Aikala-Falealii and Kawano families organized a fund-
On a typical day, you can cruise through Kaunakakai’s main street in less than a minute. With three compact blocks of stores and eateries, owners must do business with a special delicacy. As the local retail industry grows, they’re navigating new challenges of unexpected competition but are mining their talents and aloha spirit to survive. In Molokai’s economy, many customers “live paycheck to paycheck,” explained
Michelle Hiro, who opened in frequently with many Molokai Cellular in 2008. Busiother business owners ness owners said the key to in town. If they get wind co-existing in a compact, slowof one person’s idea, she er-paced setting is respecting each other’s said, they try their best not to duplicate it. corners of the market. “For me, I do not wanna be selling Unfamiliar Territory In October, Jeans Warehouse entered something else somebody else is selling,” said Hiro. “… I would rather bring in stuff the Molokai retail scene. With 29 total locations around the state and Guam, the Hathat people do not have.” Wailani Tanaka, owner of Something for Everybody, explained that she checks Retail Stores Continued pg. 3
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