No big department stores here: Most of Ward Village’s 135-plus retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues are small locally owned businesses.
CHAI Studio sells sustainable furniture that has been crafted from salvaged house and other repurposed materials. Peruse handmade cards and stationery at Miemiko Co. Sedona nurtures personal and spiritual growth with everything from crystals, memory oils, and elixir candles to psychic readings, feng shui, and classes on topics such as reiki and palmistry. Na Mea Hawaii (“things Hawaiian”) offers books, jewelry, woodcrafts and more produced by talented kamaaina (local residents) statewide. It doubles as a cultural resource center; regularly scheduled classes include hula, language, lei making, and lauhala weaving.
An activity-filled gathering place, Ward Village also touts a 16-plex theater, a weekly yoga class, and farmers’ market, a monthly evening of hula and Hawaiian music and movie screening under the stars. Also of note: a monthly Sunday brunch of delectable farm-to-table dishes prepared by a changing roster of top restaurants. Proceeds from this event benefit nonprofit organizations through the Ward Village Foundation.