A couple of isle women who met at the University of Redlands in California and bonded through its Hawaii Club have reconnected and launched a business, the My Aloha Post subscription box service.
It is the third such Hawaii-based service you may have read about in this space.
There’s a sort of rule in journalism dictating that three of anything is a trend, and we have at least four now with the Kula Fields HI-Five Box from Maui, so we may be able to call this a growing trend.
That said, My Aloha Post, by Mari Aipa and Anuhea Nakahara, is the star of this column.
To resolve a possibly pressing matter first, Aipa is, in fact, related to world-famous Hawaii waterman Ben Aipa. It was your columnist’s first question.
"That is my husband’s father’s cousin," she said.
Aipa and Nakahara know there are other made-in-Hawaii subscription boxes on the market, but it is a burgeoning field and they feel their vision serves a different audience.
"I think we differentiate ourselves by offering an experience or theme with each box," Nakahara said. "Most of our products aren’t food," such as what people can get at Longs, ABC Stores or Costco. The contents are "something that’s not readily out there. It’s from craft fairs or the Made in Hawaii Festival," she said.
Also, "every box contains a letter from us with a story about the products."
Aipa spent years growing up in the Portland, Ore., area, "coming back every summer to spend summers here," she said.
Nakahara moved back to Hawaii after college, but Aipa stayed in California and then spent time in New York before returning to Honolulu three years ago.
"When I moved back, Anuhea and I reconnected again," Aipa said.
They tossed business ideas back and forth, and the subscription box service stuck, Aipa said.
While away from the islands, they would see people’s reactions of awe when they explained that they were from Hawaii, Aipa said.
"It was kind of these special interactions we were having outside of Hawaii that we wanted to share with people, whether they’re here or away from home."
The first box, for November, included all-natural, locally made li hing mui powder from Ono Pops, a collection of stickers designed by Hawaii Domestic Market and a pineapple-themed clutch bag designed exclusively for My Aloha Post by Nakahara’s Sticks and Pohaku business.
Nakahara also owns AND — Anuhea Nakahara Designs — which makes custom jewelry. But My Aloha Post is not merely a vessel through which she will promote her own products, she said.
"Our idea is to feature as many other people" as we can, Nakahara said.
Aipa affirmed the partners’ desire to share others’ goods.
"Going to craft fairs, we were finding all these really talented people, and if we wanted to find them after(ward), some didn’t have business cards; they just gave us their phone numbers," she said.
Without an easy way to reach the masses, My Aloha Post is one way for local artisans’ work to get into paying customers’ hands and perhaps build additional business.
"Anu is actually in education, she is a teacher at heart," Aipa said, "so one of the things eventually we’d like to be able to do is work with the artists and help them in setting up a website and an Instagram (account), to help local crafters to promote themselves."
Naturally, their first customers for the boxes were their moms, then family and friends. Their business spread by word of mouth from there, and My Aloha Post got an order through its website.
My Aloha Post boxes are decidely female-targeted, but the pair have received and can accommodate requests for male-oriented boxes.
Boxes are $30 per month, or slightly less with a multiple-month subscription. The price dips to $27.50 per month with a full-year subscription.
"If you want to send the box as a gift, we can include the birthday card, holiday card or (any type of) celebration card," Nakahara said.
"When people receive (a box), when you open it up, your name is handwritten, so you feel like you’re getting it from a friend," she said. The products are not mass-produced, so Aipa and Nakahara want the boxes to reflect a personal, handcrafted feel.
Nakahara teaches study skills to ninth-graders at Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama, while Aipa oversees online marketing and social media for an unnamed hospitality company. Thus, My Aloha Post gets promoted via social media channels including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Social media following aside, the women credit loved ones including Daniel Aipa, Mari’s husband, and Roy Piliere, Nakahara’s significant other, as well as publicist and fellow Redlands alumna Crystal Yamasaki for boundless help and support along the way.
Next, the pair will work to get listed with online subscription box aggregation sites so they can be easily found by searching for Hawaii subscription boxes.
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On the Net:
» www.myalohapost.com
» www.alohacrate.com/ Default.asp
» hellomakana.com
» kulafields.com/kula-fields-hi-five-box-subscriptions
