For Maui businesses, the season of giving began long before the holidays.

As they watched customers stream through the doors on Black Friday, the owners and employees of local shops recalled how they found ways to help families in the wake of the fires and credited the community with keeping them afloat during months of uncertainty.

“Our customers are mostly locals, and locals will always come out and support no matter what,” said Shanna Kanahele, owner of Na Koa Brand, which sells local-themed apparel and accessories.

The store at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center opened at 6 a.m. for Black Friday, a shopping tradition that Kanahele said has changed over the last five years. Before, “everybody would be up and at ’em” at the big box stores first thing in the morning, then rush to the local businesses for a few frenzied hours of shopping. Now, with the big box stores promoting pre-Black Friday sales, the day is “a little more relaxed” with shoppers passing through all day.

Malia Josue and Damon Josue of Kihei browse T-shirts at Na Koa Brand at the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center on Friday. “Lines haven’t been crazy. Everything’s been going pretty quick,” said Malia Josue, who made stops at Ross, Macy’s and other stores in search of Black Friday deals. — The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photo

“I prefer consistency for 10 hours over getting pummeled for the first four hours,” Kanahele said.

After the Aug. 8 fires, business slowed down, but Na Koa stayed busy, creating a T-shirt design inspired by the Lahaina banyan tree and putting all proceeds toward the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, which oversaw many historical sites that burned in the fire.

“As a business it was slower compared to other years, but busier at the same time because we were doing donations and making stuff,” Kanahele said.

She said local businesses had to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic, which taught them to adapt after Maui suffered the wildfire disaster on Aug. 8. Kanahele was grateful for the local support and said that Na Koa, which marks its 10th anniversary this year, will be doing customer giveaways in December that include trips to the Mainland, fishing gear and other prizes.

At fellow mall tenant The Foam Company, owner Jimmy Hutaff also cited community support — locally and across the country — for helping them give back to Lahaina families.

Tanoa store manager Elaine Tauaese (left) and Kaydrin Visesio-De La Nux pose for a photo by the selection of earrings and pareos at the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center shop on Friday. — The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photo

“After the fires it was pretty challenging, like really scary. And then what we’ve noticed is like the community is starting to really support the community, local people starting to support local,” Hutaff said.

People began donating their boards and fins to give to Lahaina residents who’d lost theirs in the fire. Businesses on Oahu purchased hundreds of dollars in gear to support not only The Foam Company, but also to provide replacements for impacted residents. Hutaff and his wife Michelle recalled one local family whose kids worked hard to earn their own money and buy their own boards but lost them in the fire. Seeing them receive brand-new gear “was really special,” said Michelle Hutaff.

“The bodyboarding community is really small and tight and they’re really kind, and they just did stuff like that,” she said. “We never came up with ideas. It was always them. … Because it’s such a small community we know these kids. They buy their first boards from us. Our staff would have to come back here and cry and then go back out, to be strong for people.”

The local support was supplemented by Mainland donors who gave to the Venmo accounts of affected residents that the Hutaffs shared with customers. For the Hutaffs, kindness, it seems, comes in waves, one set after another.

“Now people are like wanting to support more local,” Jimmy Hutaff said. “I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, is what I’m seeing. But in here it feels that way. And people are more patient even in the store. Other Black Fridays was kind of crazy.”

Elaine Tauaese, store manager at Tanoa, a Polynesian-inspired clothing company, also saw none of the madness that tends to follow Black Friday. Nobody got upset, even as the store at the Queen Ka’ahumanu Center opened at 6 a.m. with long lines that prompted them to limit the number of shoppers at one time, Tauaese said.

Tanoa, which also has locations on Oahu as well as Samoa and New Zealand, specializes in family clothing collections, so many people come in to get outfits for weddings, funerals and holiday photos, Tauaese said. One shopper laughed as she returned several hangers of shirts to a $10 sale rack, saying her son had just bought the same things earlier.

Tauaese said business “was a little slow after the fires, but that’s with everybody.”

“We adapted. We just had less people working throughout the day, throughout the week,” she said. “We gave out discounts to people during their time in need. … The company itself gave out a few gift certificates to families that we knew were in need so they could shop for things they may have lost, whether it be a pareo or an earring.”

Shoppers, even amid the Black Friday holiday rush, were grateful for more than just good deals this year, especially after the fires. Beverly Romias of Wailuku, who spent Friday working her way through Target, T.J. Maxx, Ross, Tanoa and FAM Clothing with her daughter, said she had several nieces and nephews who lost their homes in Lahaina.

“But the most important thing is they’re all safe, and they can always rebuild,” Romias said. “Materialistic things you always can get. But family is family.”

Queen Ka’ahumanu Center has also arranged events to help Lahaina students and businesses, partnering with Elly’s Formal Wear on a donation drive to collect prom dresses and other formal attire for Lahainaluna High School seniors and juniors ahead of their winter Senior Ball and spring Junior Prom. The mall is also offering Lahaina businesses impacted by the fires free rent for three months on a center cart and a $2,000 cash stipend. The mall plans to make a decision soon and is hoping to choose five businesses, a spokesperson said. To apply for the free rent and stipend, visit queenkaahumanucenter.com/online-leasing-application/.

* Managing Editor Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.