Michael M.
Yelp
I think when people think of Hawaii, many envision stepping off the plane in paradise, greeted by smiling faces offering fragrant floral lei to visitors. While the romanticized version of arrival in the islands may be limited to film and television, lei are still important parts of the culture. While there are kukui nut and fake floral lei available to purchase in just about every ABC Store and many of the other shops scattered throughout the island, to get the real deal, fragrant, floral lei made by a skilled craftsperson, you have to venture out to find shops that carry these, often in a refrigerator near a counter somewhere.
We discovered Haku Maui in an article in a magazine Hotel Wailea leaves in the rooms for guests to peruse. The article explained some of the meaning and culture surrounding the Hawaiian lei and showed pictures of this cute little shop off the downtown streets of upcountry Maui. We decided to add a stop here to our trip exploring the island during our honeymoon. I'm so happy we found that one article in that one magazine that this one hotel supplies to its guests because this is a must-visit shop in our opinion.
The entrance sign to the sidewalk leading to the small shop behind the Maui Cookie Lady (another must-see shop) could be easily missed if you didn't know what you were looking for. The walkway is a beautiful little sidewalk with tropical plants lining the short stroll behind the building where you're greeted with smiling faces and a warm welcome. Britney really helps this store stand out even more than the products within. She is wealth of cultural knowledge and stories if you have an interest in learning about the Hawaiian customs, proverbs, and history. We probably could have spent hours there listening to her passionately tell us stories and explain the beliefs in the three piko (centers of the body), po'o, na'au and lei (again, forgive me if I butcher any of the spellings, I was trying to write anything I could as fast as Britney was sharing it with us).
All lei available in the refrigerator are custom made on site by the proprietors. Each lei is handcrafted with love and there's a wonderful story behind each choice in flower. The shops is also filled with other custom Hawaiian made gifts, like greeting cards, clothing, planners and more. You also have the option to have lei custom made to order. We happened to arrive not long before they were closing for the day on Saturday of our stay, but thankfully we were on the island for several more days and were able to place an order. We were asked what flowers we would like in our lei and, seeing as the choice of flower is as important as the presentation of the lei, we asked her to surprise us. The shop is closed two days of the week, Sunday/Monday (at least at the time of our visit). When we arrived to pick up our order on Wednesday, we were again greeted warmly and welcomed into the shop by Britney's mother. Our lei were ready and waiting for us, along with a handwritten note explaining the choice in flowers. For the lei po'o (pictured in the long plastic box and around my wife's head), a variety of ti leaf, fern, lokelani, koa, aalii and pohinahina were used (strength and resilience). For the ti maile (pictured in the bag), ti leaf (or lā'ī) was used in the maile style (protection). Accompanied by the ti maile at the time of the order was the story of how these used to be made together by feuding Ali'i, where they would trek off together into the mountains to gather the materials needed for the lei, and come back with a formed lei signifying the end of the fighting. As it was our honeymoon, getting to hear how this kind of practice could be reshaped into use in modern weddings to symbolize the union of two families instead of peace between two warring tribes was an extra personal touch that you just can't get with the cheap mass produced lei in grocery stores around Maui.
If you're on Maui, please, make Haku Maui and upcountry Makawao an early stop on your visit and go in with a smile and an open mind. The people on the island come from a long line of great storytellers, and Britney definitely keeps the spirit of that alive in her shop.