Spontaneous Spree: Honolulu

AGS Honolulu

AGS (Aloha Got Soul) is a record label and store focused on music from Hawaii specialising in new releases, rare reissues and tiki classics. Since its evolution from a blog that chased down 1970s and 1980s jazz, funk, soul and R&B music from the island, AGS opened as a brick and mortar store in 2021. Dive in and crate-dig for a while.

Island Boy

A self-funded, one-man retail experiment founded by island boy Andrew Mau, Island Boy’s mission is “facilitating communication between the designer-maker-artist-entrepreneur, and the audience-shopper-fan-collector”. This modern Hawaiian emporium sells island-inspired leis, fragrances, apparel and skincare, each item personally selected through Mau’s stylish, tropical lens.

Salvage Public

A Honolulu sportswear brand created by Joseph Serrao, Nāpali Souza and Noah Serrao, Salvage Public reflects the Hawaiian roots of its founders, who grew up in a culture rich with food, surfing, songs, and fashion. Its collections also acknowledge Honolulu’s connection to the wider world, as “a city where people are forever coming and going as they crisscross the Pacific”. The brand logo is based on the profile of the Diamond Head volcanic tuff cone in Oahu.

Lonohana Estate Chocolate

After refurbishing an abandoned 1930s Art Deco movie theater in the Kaka’ako district of Honolulu, the makers of this 100% Hawaiin endeavour hosts small groups on a highly immersive behind-the-scenes tour and tasting. Their vertically integrated chocolate company focused solely on using cacao that is 100% grown in Hawaii with a parallel mission to educate and share how this delicious food is grown and made.

Here.

Supporting independent labels from around the world, Here is a women-owned store specialising in sustainable, small-batch-production clothes and accessories in Honolulu since 2017. We love Here.’s beautifully crafted mules in soft fine shearling with solid wooden soles by individual artisans. Designed on Maui. Find Here. at Salt at Kaka’ako, a dynamic, 5,000-square-feet, mixed-use space of curated retail, restaurants and a micro-brewery.

Bizia Surf and Coffee Bar

Of course, you are going to need a surfboard in Hawaii. Preferably wooden, and handcrafted like a piece of art. Made in Wahiawa, just a 20-minute drive from Honolulu, Bizia’s lovingly confected, chambered timber boards are made of Albizia, an invasive wood species currently plaguing Hawaii’s forests.

Hawaiian Hot Ts Hot Sauce Company

Made in Honolulu using produce purchased from local farmers and local farmers’ markets on the island of Oahu, Hawaiian Hot Ts Hot Sauce is fiery, spicy and award-winning.