Hawaiian music

Hawaii General Store spreads some aloha in Wallingford

Eight years ago, when Honolulu native Gail Stringer couldn’t find any leis in Seattle to console a friend who was having a bad day, she did what any determined gal would do: She set up her own shop. It wasn’t that easy, however. “I realized that selling leis wasn’t lucrative enough; that’s why nobody was offering them,” says Stringer, who moved to Seattle from Hawaii in 1993. “I had to make sure there were other products at the store to support my lei habit.”

By Joann Natalia Aquino | April 27, 2006