Pop-Up Makeke, a nonprofit online marketplace created by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement to help Hawaii small businesses during the pandemic, is accepting vendor applications for its third season.
The online marketplace initiative, which is funded by donations and CARES Act money, was created after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of the Merrie Monarch Festival in April of last year. In its first two runs, which spanned five months, Pop-Up Makeke injected over $2 million into Hawaii’s economy selling more than 100,000 products from hundreds of local small businesses, according to officials with the program.
To help vendors sell their wares, CNHA heavily promoted the marketplace weekly on TV, where it was featured on KHNL, KGMB, and K5 as well as Facebook Live, according to previous reporting by Pacific Business News. The marketplace's customer base has since gone global, with tens of thousands of customers.
This year, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement partnered with Amazon and Shopify to expand vendors' online reach. Vendor selections will begin in early April.
“Our economic recovery is underway, but it is a long, tenuous process. We are excited to be able to continue Pop-Up Makeke as a means to help Hawaii’s struggling small businesses continue to find success,” said Kuhio Lewis, CNHA president and CEO, in a statement. “The changes we are implementing are designed to empower vendors and to deliver a better customer experience by reducing processing time and fulfilling demand more efficiently. We want to see these local small businesses continue to succeed by increasing sales.”
Vendors for Pop-Up Makeke's third season will be selected by an internal committee looking for products that represent Hawaii’s diversity and align with its mission and brand.
“Streamlining our vendor vetting system and the items offered for sale in Pop-Up Makeke will allow us to ensure that our customers are getting the quality products they expect and that the experience is a profitable one for our vendors, as well,” Lewis said.
For more information, or to apply, click here.
