Odd events at Wainiha General Store

Photo by David Lansing.

Just down the road from the Hanalei Colony Resort is the Wainiha General Store which has quite a reputation in the area. I’ve stopped in a couple of times to grab some bottled water or dried coconut and never had any problems, but others tell a different story. The store is owned by a petite woman from Texas who some say is a very nice lady and others claim is a bit crazy. There are tales of her chasing people out the door, ranting and raving at them, and even flipping people off. Others say she’s quite friendly.

It’s almost like we’re talking about two different people here, and maybe we are. Maybe two women work in the store and one is the kindly old lady who always waves and says Mahalo when you leave and the other is a batshit crazy loon who throws change at you while cursing to the heavens.

There’s a Wainiha local who has a blog site called Wainiha Nation and he writes odd tales of the area, including stories about the store which, he says, “is the epicenter of all mischief and the magnet of all trouble in the little village of Wainiha. When you roll down the Wainiha Grade, and cross the first little bridge into town, the very thing that catches your eye like an object of terrible fascination is the Wainiha General Store and a surfboard just beyond that warns you that this is your Last Chance. I would like to place an addendum under that sign that reads Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here. It is here that you will find the entrance to the Underworld.”

He goes on to say that the store is run by three women who “all look exactly alike and you never know which one you are dealing with.” It’s all written very much tongue-in-cheek. Then again, maybe he’s on to something. Maybe the store truly is owned by a woman with multiple personalities who, as one person told me, “has some major issues.” Fortunately for me, every time I’ve gone in, I’ve been greeted by the nice lady. The one who smiles when she takes your money and says Have a nice day when you leave. But I can’t say for certain that the other two women, who look exactly like her, don’t work there as well. In any case, I’m just glad I haven’t run into them. Yet.