Putting the ‘aloha’ back in the aloha shirt

Sometimes it’s easy to see how Businesses A and B get hitched, and sometime you encounter a case like Reyn Spooner. The company is famous for developing a preppy, Bishop-Street look in its Hawaiian wear, especially so for innovating what became the iconic reverse-print aloha shirts.

So how does a company like that catch the eye of Charlie Baxter? Maybe it helps that he lives on Kauai part-time.

The established e-commerce investor who now chairs the logistics service provider Wineshipping.com created the entity Aloha Brands LLC to make the acquisition.

The name is encouraging. Maybe he’ll promote the branding of "aloha shirts" on the mainland, where they still call them "Hawaiian shirts."

A PV system of ambitious proportions

While most of us rely on Hawaiian Electric for our energy, Earl Bakken is preparing for a different kind of renewable-energy future.

First, the 91-year-old owner of a 9-acre Kona Coast estate, plans to install a vast photovoltaic array on his property, along with a novel battery system to keep him in electricity during cloudy days.

But the next step is arguably more significant. He intends to open his estate to students, so they can learn the virtues of clean, sustainable green energy. That’s how the seeds of true sustainable living are planted — with the idea that it’s possible.