Kokua Thrift Shop at the Hanapepe United Church of Christ works hard to live up to its reputation as “the best thrift shop” on Kaua‘i’s Westside, as it has been described online by customers. “We’re here to help,” said Joanne
Kokua Thrift Shop at the Hanapepe United Church of Christ works hard to live up to its reputation as “the best thrift shop” on Kaua‘i’s Westside, as it has been described online by customers.
“We’re here to help,” said Joanne Nakashima, one of the shop’s regular volunteers.
The thrift shop started in the mid-’70s when a church rummage sale left a number of articles unsold. Someone suggested a side room be used as a thrift shop. The idea stuck and over the years the space has been filled with bargain merchandise.
Every Monday morning, except holidays, church volunteers sort and tag new arrivals and arrange merchandise. Clothes racks are wheeled out. Some products remain on shelves as the storage rooms become additional sales space.
At noon, everything is once again boxed and put back to the storage rooms until the next Monday of operation.
Nakashima said there is never a shortage of merchandise. Unsolicited, people drop things off at the church, including furniture and household goods.
Just as quickly as the big items are dropped off, they are picked up, Nakashima said. Prices are very low, seldom more than $2. Nakashima said a Mamo mu‘umu‘u valued at $180 new was sold for $10.
In addition, the shop reaches out to the community, preparing boxes for an ‘Ele‘ele Elementary School teacher who requested items for her students.
The shop also provides furnishings and clothing for participants in the Kaua‘i Association of Churches of Christ’s Ke Ala Hoku project, which houses recovering drug addicts and former prison inmates.
Nakashima said the 20 to 40 customers who come on any given Monday vary.
Kellianne Cadavona, of Honolulu, frequently visits her grandparents in ‘Ele‘ele and likes to shop at the store.
“It’s cheap,” she said.
Cadavona said she sews a lot, so she looks for apparel with interesting designs or fabrics to turn into something else.
One customer said that when her boys were young, she bought half of their clothes from the thrift shop. She said she likes the nice clothes and the range in sizes as well as the workers.
“The ladies who work here are such sweethearts,” she said.
Most of the volunteers are retired, though one person shows up on his lunch break to help box the goods.
Nakashima is retired from the Hawai‘i Department of Education. She continues work part time, providing “principal relief” at Kalaheo Elementary School and working with state Sen. Gary Hooser during the legislative session. On her day off, Monday, she volunteers at the thrift shop.
She said she likes the idea that the thrift shop helps people who want to get rid of things and those who need them.
