The Maui Swap Meet at the University of Hawaii Maui College draws a smaller crowd than usual, but big by today’s standards, on March 14, 2020, its last day of operation before it shut down due to the pandemic. After a 15-month hiatus, the swap meet is reopening today. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
After a 15-month hiatus due to COVID-19, one of Maui’s largest weekend attractions, the Maui Swap Meet, is back on today.
But the attraction at the University of Hawaii Maui College’s Kahului campus back parking lot will look a little different with vendors spaced out about 12 feet apart, said Erna Jahja, office assistant for Maui Exposition Inc., which puts on the event.
And, customers and vendors will be required to wear masks, even though the swap meet is outdoors, she added, noting that people could come into close proximity with others.
“We still want to make sure our vendors are protected,” Jahja explained Friday.
There will be around 160 vendors today, down from the more than 200 pre-pandemic, she said, because some vendors were not ready to come back and the need to distance booths farther apart. But local favorites such as produce and flower vendors will be present. Vendors are being asked to provide hand sanitizer at their booths, post a sign saying “wear a mask” or “practice social distancing” and be responsible for keeping buyers 6 feet apart.
Lona Benson (right) of Tyner, Saskatchewan, and Vicki Sedgwick of Elrose, Saskatchewan, pose last March with some of the treasures they picked up at the Maui Swap Meet on its last day before shutting down due to the pandemic. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Admission is free for today’s swap meet, Jahja said. Hours are the same, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The last Maui Swap Meet was on March 14, 2020, just as the virus was starting to appear in Hawaii.
Longtime vendors said they are pleased to be back
“We are extremely, extremely, excited,” Shaka Pops Maui co-owner Christine Vestfals said Friday. “The swap meet to us is more than an event. We have been doing it for nine years. We started (the business) nine years ago and that was one of the first events that we started doing.
“You really develop a family, you get to know the other vendors, a lot of them are personal friends. … We seen some of them, but it’s been 15 months, so really nice to be able to come back,” said Vestfals, who will feature new specialty flavors of her local popsicles today, including a rich and spicy Mayan chocolate popsicle, along with lilikoi creamsicle, acai berry and coco banana popsicle with no added sugar. She will also bring her “classicle” flavors, including lava flow and raspberry lemonade, and will be in the same booth as before.
Even though the pops are sold in stores, “the swap meet, it give you the most bang for your buck,” said Vestfals, who co-owns the business with her husband, Larry Lutz. Not only is there a lot of foot traffic, but customers may taste the pops at the swap meet and later seek them out at stores.
Kaikoo Frias, the grandson of Jeff’s Jams & Jellies owner Jeffrey Gomes, poses in this 2018 photo at the Maui Swap Meet. Jeff’s Jams & Jellies will be one of the returning longtime vendors at the Maui Swap Meet that starts up again today after a 15-month hiatus. — Photo courtesy of JEFFREY GOMES
Jeffrey Gomes, owner of Jeff’s Jams & Jellies, agrees that the Maui Swap Meet provides a large audience for his products.
Even though he has some wholesale local supermarket accounts and online sales, which he relied on during the pandemic, he cherishes the swap meet, since that’s where he started his business around 22 years ago.
A former chef at Maui resorts, Gomes started marketing his jams and jellies as Christmas gifts at the former swap meet site across from the Kahului McDonald’s on Puunene Avenue. It was there he found his market.
Current best sellers include lilikoi butter and Maui-style butter consisting of lilikoi, guava and pineapple flavors.
He called today’s opening “good news.”
“The swap meet is pretty good, hopefully (customers) all come back,” Gomes said.
If the recently opened Kahului Swap Meet is any indication, the customers probably will be back. Chad Paranto, who organized the smaller Saturday swap meet in November at the Maui Marketplace, said the event boded well for most vendors. It came with strict COVID-19 protocols, including temperature checks.
However, the Kahului Swap Meet’s final event was last week, Paranto said on Friday. He felt there was no reason to confuse tourists or have two competing swap meets.
Paranto will be at the Maui Swap Meet today selling his artwork, including hand-blown glass, photos and paintings.
“I’m happy to go back,” he said.
He also continues his organizing work for the Maui Gift & Craft Fair at Lahaina Gateway on Sundays.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
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