| Kihei | Kahuli | Wailuku | Pa'ai | Makawao | Lahaina | Ka'anapali | Wailea | Kapalua | Hana |
Maui has enough shopping of every description to fulfill the dreams and needs of most shoppers including:
Makawao and Lahaina are the art gallery centers of Maui. Makawao has a special Upcountry character and charm. The much larger, touristy Lahaina offers visitors a much more complete experience of land and ocean activities, historical and other sightseeing, gourmet and casual meals and special events.
Wailuku’s atmosphere is shaped by a combination of vintage architecture, historic sites and ethnic diversity reflected in its many small eateries. Wailuku is a memorable sightseeing destination that provides a totally different kind of shopping, browsing and eating experience from any other on the island. In Hawaii, Hilo on the Big Island is the city that most resembles Wailuku. In contrast to Lahaina, there’s not much to do in Wailuku at night except eat. We prefer daytime when you can walk around Wailuku, visit historic sites and more local restaurants will be open.
Shopping in Whalers Village and the Shops at Wailea is relaxed, pleasant and open-air. One of the most appealing aspects of Whalers Village is that you can walk into the shopping area right from the beachfront or take a shopping break at Leilani’s Beachside Grill and Hula Grill in front of Whalers Village right next to the beach. (Food and drinks at these restaurants and other eateries at Whalers Village count for 3 hours of free validated parking for $10 of purchases.)
Located at a distance from the beach, The Shops at Wailea has a huge amount of free parking and offers ocean views from Longhi’s and Cheeseburgers, Mai Tais & Rock & Roll on the second level. NaPua Gallery in the Grand Wailea is not to be missed. Other resorts like the Four Seasons and Fairmont Kea Lani have exceptional artists displaying and selling their work in lobby locations a few days a week.
Shopping for art, Hawaiiana, gifts and antiques in Lahaina combined with ocean trips and enjoying leisurely meals easily can consume several Perfect Days. At Lahaina’s well-publicized Friday Night Art Walk you can meet artists in as many as a dozen galleries that remain open late for browsing. Village Gallery on Dickenson, Old Lahaina Book Emporium and Lahaina Print Sellers are some of the more exceptional shops and galleries for browsing. Village Galleries has taken over the souvenir shop in the Master’s Reading Room at the corner of Dickenson and Front St.
Kapalua Shops in the Kapalua Resort is not a magnet for shoppers but the Bella Vetri Gallery displays a stunning collection of Dale Chihuly and other glass art that makes a trip north worthwhile for Chihuly fans and to see some superb examples of glass art, ceramics and raku.
For shops, boutiques and galleries on Maui with unique character and unusual art, gifts and souvenirs that are fun to visit and located more or less off-the-beaten track, you have to spend some time in the cities, towns and villages of Central Maui, on the North Shore, in Upcountry, Hana and even a couple of galleries in remote Kahakuloa on the Northwest shore. These shopping excursions include:
For many visitors to Hawaii and Maui over the past 40 years, shopping for alohawear became synonymous with Hilo Hattie that grew into the largest store in Hawaii for island products and gifts. Most people assume that Hilo Hattie started in Waikiki. No, it’s first store, under the name of Kaluna Hawaii Sportswear, opened on Kauai in 1963. In the 1960s, Hilo Hattie transported tourists from Waikiki to its nearby warehouse for shopping at the “Home of the $3.95 Aloha Shirt.” At the time, tourism to Hawaii was in its infancy. It took Hilo Hattie 17 years to open another store, returning to Kauai under its new name, and then four years later on Kona.
The first store on Maui, in the Lahaina Shopping Center, opened in early 1992, not a very good time for Hawaii tourism. It wasn’t until 1998 that Hilo Hattie opened a store in Oahu’s Ala Moana Center, and then in Kihei, in December 2000. In the last few years Hilo Hattie has expanded more on the U.S. mainland than in Hawaii, with retail locations in Orange, CA, Orlando and Miami, FL., Nashville, TN, and Tempe, AZ.
Today Hilo Hattie has lots of hip competition in men’s, women’s (wahine) and children’s islandwear and sportswear, surfwear, accessories and jewelry, including: Liberty House (Hawaii’s oldest and largest chain of department stores, not on Maui), Honolua Surf Co., Local Motion, Reyn’s, Sgt. Leisure and Tropical Tantrum Outlet Stores.
As you will soon discover, these chains have lots of locations, including: Kapalua Bay Hotel, 1 Bay Dr., Kapalua; Whalers Village, 2435 Ka'anapali Pkwy., Ka'anapali; Hyatt Regency, 200 Nohea Kai Dr., Ka’anapali; Lahaina Cannery Mall, 1221 Honoapi'ilani Hwy., Lahaina; Front Street, Lahaina; Kama’ole Shopping Center, 2463 S. Kihei Rd., South Kihei; Ka’ahumanu Center, 275 Ka’ahumanu Ave., Kahului; Four Seasons Resort, 3900 Wailea Alanui Dr., Wailea; and The Shops at Wailea.
Here are some choices for resortwear, surfwear, aloha shirts, and other comfortable island clothing sold by retailers that are easy to find and offer quality products: