What was only supposed to be a small, one-time pop-up market has grown to an annual event with over 100 vendors and a mission to not only build a thriving ʻŌiwi economy, but to do it while elevating Hawaiian culture and giving back to the community.
Kailee Freitas, owner of Mahina Made, a lifestyle brand, got her business off the ground by participating at various markets featuring local crafters and small businesses. She enjoyed engaging with customers, the networking with other vendors, and the whole event feel.
About five years ago, she was inspired to put together a market specifically featuring businesses who were creating nā mea Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian products) or intentionally using their businesses to elevate the Hawaiian culture.
“I didn’t know how to run a market. I’d never run one before, just participated in them,” Freitas said. “And I was like, let’s just do a small market.”
Freitas thought it would be fun to hang out with other business owners who shared the same cultural values and network. Held in Waikīkī, their first event was promoted primarily on social media and featured just 30 local vendors.
“We filled the parking lot before the event even started. It was absolutely insane,” Freitas recalled.
Over 3,000 people attended the first Hoʻomau Market. Because of the enthusiastic response, Freitas felt compelled to continue the effort and plan another market – and so Hoʻomau Market continued to grow.
This month, the largest Hoʻomau Market yet – with over 100 vendors, 83% of which are Native Hawaiian-owned businesses – will be held Nov. 9 and 10, at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center in Waikīkī.
An ʻOhana Effort
“I attended the first few Hoʻomau Market events as a customer,” said Leilani Sill, owner of apparel business, The Keiki Dept. “The energy and feeling of aloha the minute you enter – it’s just incredible! From set-up to the event itself to breakdown, it feels like family. Like a big get-together.”
Hoʻomau Market is managed by Freitas’ family and close friends. Her core team includes her “Aunties of Aloha” and her mother-in-law, who help with ticket sales, greeting customers, and making sure everyone is enjoying themselves.
Her husband, Logan Freitas, helps vendors unload and find their booths, while her friend, Kanoe Tjorvatjoglou-Cup Choy, serves as the market’s vivacious emcee, spotlighting the vendors and giving-away items. Her mom is assigned to “keiki duty” and her grandmother just likes to sit, relax, and watch the younger family members run the show.
“We don’t have a huge team, and we kind of like it that way, because it helps to keep that family feel for the market,” Freitas said.
“Something that Kailee does really well is curating the vendors,” said Sills. “Being able to put on an event that showcases all of us and our different products, with so many vendors in one place, has helped a lot of us to succeed.”
The curated list of Hoʻomau Market business participants is shared in an online directory on the market’s webpage. The directory can be searched by island, product or business name, providing year-round access to culturally inspired products.
Hoʻomau Market comes together each year with help from Freitas’ family and close friends. She is pictured here with some of her core team, including her “Aunties of Aloha.” – Courtesy Photo
A Kākoʻo Thing
The Hoʻomau Market has provided structure for marketing new businesses, shared resources for business courses and tutorials, legal references for help with certificate of insurance needs, and more.
“When I was a new business owner, there’s just so much to learn about promoting your business. They really helped with marketing behind the scenes,” said Rachel Domingo, owner of Moon Dance Designs jewelry.
Domingo is a full-time teacher and runs her jewelry business on the side. Within the last few years of participating in the market she has established her brand, done partner collaborations with other brands and businesses, learned about Hawaiian culture and the native plants that she now incorporates in her product, and grown her Instagram followers from 20 to almost 7,000.
“Most importantly, in terms of support, a lot of these women are moms. I’m a new mom and I still message a lot of the women that I met from the very first Hoʻomau Market. It’s like we’ve built lifelong friendships from [being involved in] the market,” Domingo said.
Developing lasting friendships is a common theme expressed by the various business owners about their experiences participating in the Hoʻomau Market.
“We come from different backgrounds, but it’s really interesting because now some of my closest friends are people I’ve met through Hoʻomau,” said Sills.
“In a traditional business model we’re all competing for the same customers,” Sills reflected. “But I don’t see it that way. The way I see it, we’re all businesses trying to perpetuate and share our culture. The only way that we’re going to continue to move forward is to work together.”
Giving Back
From the beginning, giving back was a key element of the Hoʻomau Market’s foundational values.
“Even though at first we didn’t have much money to give back – just a couple hundred dollars – we gave it to Pūnana Leo,” Freitas said. “That is something that has been consistent in every event – that we donate to some Hawaiian nonprofit or organization. And that’s just on the event side.”
The level of inclusivity and kākoʻo extends beyond the market itself. Many of its vendors give a portion of their proceeds back to the community – to Hawaiian language organizations, cultural conservation groups, or the Hawaiʻi Food Bank, to name a few.
In 2022, The Keiki Dept., which regularly donates 1% of their online sales to support ʻAha Pūnana Leo, created a special limu print to celebrate the “Year of the Limu” and donated it to the Waimānalo Limu Hui.
“When I was younger, and went to the beach there was limu all over the place,” Sills reminisced. “Now, when we go to the beach, we sometimes don’t see any.” For her, supporting the hui’s work to restore native limu is important.
“Giving back and being a part of the community is super important to me,” she said.
For Native Hawaiians, reclaiming our brand and taking control of the narrative about Hawaiʻi and our people is important.
As a “brand,” Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiian people have been exploited for decades. The arts, traditions, language, ʻāina, symbols and motifs of our kūpuna have been taken, appropriated, and manipulated for profit by entities with no – or only superficial – connections to our ʻāina, culture, history, and values.
By supporting businesses that promote Hawaiian culture and values, and purchasing goods created by Native Hawaiians and by kamaʻāina who honor and respect our culture, we are helping to keep local families in Hawaiʻi.
It is an investment in our ʻŌiwi economy that directly supports our lāhui. And it also supports the authentic perpetuation of our culture, language and environment for generations to come. E hoʻomau!
Mahina Made owner and Hoʻomau Market Founder Kailee Freitas, in collaboration with YIREH owner Emily Jaime, launched the opening of their first permanent store at Ward’s South Shore Market in Kakaʻako on Oct. 26. Be sure to visit them and support Hawaiʻi.
