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Waimanalo community members are uniting to create a cooperative market and hope to lease as a storefront the old Mel’s Market site along Kalanianaole Highway.
"It’s a consumer’s co-op, not a producer’s co-op (like a farmers market)," said Kehau Padilla, the co-op’s steering committee coordinator, adding that it will be Oahu’s second co-op market after Kokua Market.
"If this works, it can work in every community," she said.
Volunteers held a membership drive Saturday to sign up new co-op owner-members and offered a sampling of what the market will sell, including locally grown taro, eggplant and papaya as well as works by local artists.
The market will serve as a neighborhood site to buy locally produced fresh food, products and services, and will be a green gathering place for the community, supporters say.
"We’re really excited to get this going," said Padilla, who ran an online market from 2008 to 2010 with pickups at a local school.
The co-op has an ambitious goal of enlisting 300 members by Monday, and it already has collected about $30,000 from about 65 to 70 members.
"Our funding has gone sky-high," Padilla said, with several lifetime "legacy" members donating $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000.
The steering committee will decide this week whether it has enough support from the community to go forward and sign a lease with the new property owners, who purchased the old Mel’s Market site to preserve it.
Mel’s Market, established in 1953 by Mel and Mary Akiona, closed its doors in 2012.
Residents lamented the loss of the green painted market known for its quality meats and the coin-operated horse outside the store that kids at one time rode for a dime.
Two couples, longtime Waimanalo residents who asked not to be named, pooled their retirement savings and bought the property to preserve it for the community. The owners have begun interior renovations.
The concept is to buy local produce from local farmers and sell it at reasonable prices to community members and others, and the artwork will be sold on consignment.
"The co-op will make the money," said Padilla, who compares it to the ahupuaa system in which people living in the mountains traded with folks from the seaside.
A one-year membership for an individual is $150, which gives the member a vote in the decision-making for the co-op and a 6 percent discount on purchases. A family membership is $230. Membership dues can be spread out through the year.
Members also contribute with their time, whether in sales, cleaning or lending other skills to the business.
The co-op will hire two employees, including a general manager.
Waimanalo-born and -raised Gay McGuire, 57, and her husband hope to contribute some tilapia they raise as well as vegetables they grow in their aquaponics system.
"Even if it’s once a week, if it’s 10 fish, that’s something that provides for somebody else," McGuire said.
She said Mel’s strengths included its convenience.
"It’s nice having a place to go to if you run out of something at dinnertime, rather than go out to Kailua," McGuire said.
Makiki resident Jake Lancaster, 37, ate breakfast at Sweet Home Waimanalo with his wife and dog, and stopped off at the market before going to the beach.
"I get local whenever I can," he said.
Locally produced food has less of a carbon footprint because it is not being shipped as far, he said. The food is also fresher and uses fewer pesticides, and promotes sustainability because it supports local farmers, he added.
To learn more and about how to become a member, go to www.waimanalomarket.com.