Holiday Pop-Up: Creating Space for Indigenous Entrepreneurship

One wahine’s story shows what can grow through relationship. The market shows what becomes possible when fifteen businesses share space and no one stands alone.

At Kūkolu’s pop-up at Windward Mall, products from fifteen businesses owned by Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs were offered through a shared consignment marketplace. Incubator graduates and cohort members were represented alongside independent artisans and makers. A team of Native Hawaiian wahine operated the store day to day, carrying the values that shaped the participating businesses into every part of the customer experience. Among the vendors was Kaulumaika, Emily States’ art business. Sales generated through that shared space became part of her path toward buying her first home.

Among the 15 participating businesses, five were based on neighbor islands. The marketplace created an opportunity for these entrepreneurs to introduce their products to Oʻahu customers and expand beyond their home markets. Together, these results reflect growing customer demand and the value of creating accessible retail opportunities for Native Hawaiian and Indigenous-owned businesses.

This was Kūkolu’s second marketplace in two years, and both carry a fitting lineage. Windward Mall and SALT at Our Kakaʻako are located on lands stewarded by Kamehameha Schools, founded through the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Her legacy has supported the education and flourishing of Native Hawaiian keiki for generations. Twice now, spaces on ʻĀina Pauahi have held Native Hawaiian wahine entrepreneurs building their own expressions of Native Hawaiian-led abundance, each one making room for the next.