Tucked between the shopping frenzy of the Black Friday weekend, Small Business Saturday capitalized on the adaptability and flexibility of small businesses to get a share of the shopping pie.
“Don’t forget to vote for our Christmas tree,” said 10-year-old Autumn Noelle Freuler of Aloha Sister Studio on Saturday at the Island Crafts Craft Fair at the Kauai Veterans Center. “You know how to spell ‘Autumn.’ Now, what number is our Christmas tree? That’s the one to vote for.”
Autumn Noelle, along with her sister, Brooklyn Joy Freuler, 9, make up the Aloha Sister Studio enterprise that was described as “a kid-run, faith-filled handmade shop from the island of Kauai.”
“We’re homeschooled island girls who spend our days exploring barefoot, swimming, creating and adventuring with our family,” a printed description states from its home in the corner of the table showing off a variety of items, including jewelry. “Our creations are inspired by the ocean, the mountains, the flowers and the colors of God’s beautiful world.”
The young girls’ mother said this was all them.
“This is a school project,” said the mother, a former business person and chef. “I helped them get the General Excise Tax license (needed to be an Island Crafts vendor). It all started when one of them got some clay, and together, they studied and learned. They really want to win this contest on which vendor has the best Christmas tree because if they win, the table fee is waived. This is their very first craft fair.”
The young girls were not alone as the owner of Aloha Lemonade, Axel Duarte, started his lemonade business after being told by his parents that he could get an electric bike if he paid for it, prompting the young student to get his parents involved using lemons growing in the family’s back yard.
The business flourished to not only being able to fund an electric bike — Duarte changed his mind and purchased an electric scooter, instead. He continues to appear at the weekly Grove Farm Market farmers market, and for this holiday season, worked with the Kukui Grove Center to get a pop-up space across from Jamba Juice where he provided samples and product during the Saturday night premiere of the shopping center’s Holiday Lights display.
Duarte’s enterprise is separate from other small business collectives like the Mele Makeke collection of crafters and food vendors that had lines of people snaking around the building housing the Deja Vu Surf Hawaii store.
On the other side of the cookie, Elena Camat of Gourmet Hawaiian Pretzels, a weekly vendor at the Grove Farm Market, started her business during the growing days of the Kauai Handworks fair when her son needed money for soccer clothes and travel.
Camat’s business has grown to where one of her sons now actively helps with the business, adding his own freeze-dried desserts to the pretzel offering.
Small businesses got a boost from car dealers when Kuhio Motors Group launched its first craft fair on Saturday. Small businesses or crafters were allowed to display and sell from the Kuhio Motors Chevy and Hyundai and the Kuhio Motors Ford and Mazda showrooms. Food vendors and food trucks were allowed to park outside the showrooms.
Over at the new site for the Kauai Handworks Craft Fair, organizer Gayle Konishi said the event honored one of the craft fair’s charter vendors, Carol Yotsuda of the Garden Island Arts Council, for participating with the craft fair for more than 40 years.
American Express created Small Business Saturday in 2010 to drive consumer spending at small businesses. Over the years, Amex has helped generate more than $210 billion in reported sales. Shop Small has grown to become a year-round movement that supports small businesses around the world.
Source: The Garden Island