Stores, Malls or Markets in Maui

The mall boasts a variety of boutique retail stores combined with restaurants, hula dancing, Hawaiian artists, cultural events and festivals enjoyed year round.

What to buy: There are two stores where I purchased items from...Crazy Shirts (located across from the Food Court) is the only place where you can find exclusive Hawaiian designs and the highest quality t-shirts...and the T-Shirt Factory where you can find the most popular styles of T-Shirts, beach cover-ups, casual dresses, aloha shirts and golf shirts on Maui.

What to pay: Prices range from $4.95 all the way up to $50.00

Downtown Lahaina, around Front St. is brimming with many interesting boutiques. There are dozens of jewelry stores, clothing shops, art galleries, knick-knack shops, etc. Front St. is where I shopped for my friends and family back home. Prices at the various shops ranged from cheap to ridiculously expensive. I bargained for great deals on jewelry.

I have to give props to fellow Vt'er, Annapet (the maui info goddess), for suggesting KMART as a good place to shop when visiting Maui.They have everything! We stocked up on water, candy, sunscreen, shampoo, etc...
Costco, the warehouse superstore, was also a convenient place to get some items. I bought enormous beach towels and my Maui Jim sunglasses there. I also developed tons of film at their 1 hour photo station. The best part about these two stores is that they both are located a stone's throw from the airport. You can't miss them.

From the moment you walk in the door and they put a seashell lai around your neck until the moment you exit their establishment, you will find a wonderfully friendly and eye-appealing experience shopping at "The Store of Hawaii".

Hilo Hattie was the stage name of a popular female Hawaiian entertainer during the 1950s and '60s. Today it is a name that has become synonymous with Hawaiian fashion. Hilo Hattie is Hawaii's largest Hawaiian retailer and the world's largest manufacturer of Hawaiian clothes. The company offers hundreds of prints and styles as well as Maui Divers jewelry, home accessories, beauty products and gourmet foods.

Established in 1965, Hilo Hattie has grown to be one of the most recognized brands in Hawaii. Hilo Hattie was born Clarissa Haili on October 28,1901, but everyone called her Clara. She began her career as a schoolteacher but it was her singing and dancing that gave her a place in modern history. She popularized the comic hula style with such tunes as "Princess Pupule Has Plenty Papayas" and "When Hilo Hattie Does the Hula Hop".

Hilo Hattie gave her name to the company that now has stores all over Hawaii, and a few on the mainland, and that gives UH scholarships to deserving students so they may continue their education in Hawaiian studies and music.

Hilo Hattie prides itself on having the internets largest selection of Hawaiian merchandise. In fact they are the world's largest manufacturer and retailer of Aloha Wear.

Shopping Hilo Hattie online is almost as fun as going into a retail location could be. I mean, if you can imagine your home office swirling with soft island breezes whilst you keyboard away.

Hilo Hattie has nine stores throughout the Hawaiian Islands and on the mainland in Orange, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; Tempe, Ariz.; and Miami as well as Las Vegas.

What to buy: Hawaiian shirts and all types of Hawaiian products.

Hawaiian shirts (known more popularly as the Aloha Shirt in Hawaii) have a long and storied history in the 50th State. Many have attributed the invention of the Aloha Shirt to Ellery Chun, owner of a Dry Goods store in Honolulu who sold the tropical print fashions in the 1930s. In truth the "Hawaiian Shirt" had already been in circulation for numerous years, although Mr. Chun had a major role in the Hawaiian Shirt's proliferation.

In the mid 1930's, "Musa-Shiya the Shirt Maker" was making shirts from Japanese Kimono fabric. Musa-Shiya the Shirt Maker eventually evolved into "Musashiya", a store in business today at Honolulu's Ala Moana Shopping Center. The business advertised its "Aloha" shirts with a starting price of 95 cents per shirt! In 1932, Surfriders Sportswear Manufacturing began making and selling its "Hawaiian" shirts. Thus, in effect, the celestial shirt stars began magically aligning to produce the modern Hawaiian Shirt.

By the 1950's, the Hawaiian Shirt had blazed into prominence. In August 1959 Hawaii became the 50th State of the U.S.A., bringing the new Aloha State even more attention, and most significantly, even more tourists! Then Hawaiian shirts also began receiving high exposure in Hollywood movies, and a succession of popular Hawaii-based TV-Series through the late 1950's, 1960's, 1970's and 1980's.

And as you are very aware, almost everyone who comes to Hawaii winds up buying and owning at least one Hawaiian Shirt. Some companies back in the continental US even have special “Hawaiian Shirt” casual days to spice up the office.

So one of the things you should schedule to do on your visit to Maui is a visit to Hilo Hattie’s store in Lahina. Why Hilo Hattie’s? Well there are many good reasons, and I have another shopping tip on Hilo Hattie’s, but for this article the reason is that in that store you will find the world’s second largest Hawaiian Shirt ever made – as I recall about a 200XL – unbelievable! Here is a picture of that fantastic shirt.

One of the first things a traveler to Hawaii notices on their arrival at the airport or first visit to any convenience store is the huge displays of macadamia nut products, such as gift packs of dry roasted nuts, chocolate covered nuts and macadamia nut brittle. The selection is almost endless and the prices are amazing, less than half of what you would pay on the mainland for the same items.

Hawaii is the macadamia nut capital of the world, growing 90% of the world's macadamia nuts.

In Hawaii the soil is rich in nutrients, the skies are filled with sunshine, and the plantations are drenched by tropical rain...perfect for growing the finest macadamias in the world.

Hawaii's elegant macadamia nut is an interesting phenomenon. Its unique flavor and textural qualities have catapulted it into almost mystical popularity in remarkably few years.

Though almost all the macadamia nuts today are produced in Hawaii, the nut is native to Australia. In 1921, a transplanted Massachusetts man began the first Hawaiian macadamia plantation near Honolulu. A trickle of nuts was marketed in 1930's, but it was not until the 1950's that production became substantial.

Macadamias increased in popularity not because they were backed by massive advertising, but mainly because visitors to Hawaii discovered them, took them back to friends, and never forgot the delicious macadamia nuts for themselves.

Macadamia nuts have the reputation of being the toughest nut to crack. It takes 300 pounds per square inch of pressure to break the shell. Old-timers tell of putting the nuts under boards and running their cars over them to crack the nuts. Today, the macadamia nuts are passed between rotating steel rollers, precisely spaced to break the shell without disturbing its contents.

The macadamia nut is primarily made up of protein carbohydrates, and mono-unsaturated fats. It contains some vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, calcium and iron. Macadamia nuts have approximately the same number of calories as do other commercial nuts.

Whalers Village is like a small mall with many shops. Most of the shops are high end shops like Gucci, Tiffany's, Coach, Versace and more.
There are other shops that are more in-line with what the majority of people can afford. One great store was the Endangered Species store.

It's worth a visit and bring money. You never know what you will fall in love with in the store window.

What to buy: Clothing and souveneirs.

What to pay: Depends on what you buy...it may get expensive.

The Shops at Wailea had a number of different stores including the ABC Stores which sells most anything you could possibly need. A number of upscale shops. Most small with a reasonable selection. We also shopped in Lahaina on Front Street and found a number of typical tourist type shops that carried most everything you could want.

What to buy: It's nice to walk around with a Hawaiian shirt but you probably won't wear it at home. Buy a bathing suit.

What to pay: Any way you can!