Every Store Has Its Story: The Greenwell General Store becomes ChoiceMART
By Le‘a Gleason
Standing on the event lawn at Kealakekua Ranch Center (KRC), looking all the way down to the sun-kissed Pacific Ocean, it’s easy to tell there’s something special about this place.
In fact, a rich history surrounds KRC, and it all began with one man: H.N. Greenwell who was born in 1826 in Lanchester, England. Henry Nicholas, commonly known as H.N., was the fourth son in a large and fairly wealthy English family. However, when the time came, his oldest brother inherited the family’s wealth. Without any inheritance, H.N. chose a Naval career, then later decided that the military wasn’t for him. At that time, he began plans for opening a business in Australia. When that didn’t work out, he made his way to O‘ahu where he saw an opportunity to ship goods between there and San Francisco, because at that time, it was Honolulu that had a more developed infrastructure than the growing California city.
After becoming ill while traveling, H.N. returned to Honolulu for care. It was during that time it became clear that Hawai‘i would become his home. While spending time on O‘ahu, H.N. worked for a small general store and that’s when he discovered a need on Hawai‘i Island.
In 1870, he constructed a small general store on the then remote South Kona coast, which served the growing community. He began growing and selling oranges and was also one of the pioneers in coffee cultivation in the Kona district. The new store carried all the necessities for the growing population, and a few luxury items, too. H.N. and his wife Elizabeth worked in the store and H.N. also served as customs officer and postmaster. Over time, H.N. reinvested profits from the store, coffee farming, and livestock products, becoming a large landholder with ranch lands stretching from the Kealakekua ahupua‘a (traditional Hawaiian land division system) to Palani Road in the North Kona district.
Kealakekua Ranch, established in 1881, encompassed 12,000 acres of the Kealakekua ahupua‘a and was one of three ranches held by the Greenwells. H.N. and Elizabeth had 10 children, and it was their son, Arthur, who later inherited Kealakekua Ranch. By this time, ranching had grown in importance to the family’s and the community’s livelihood. Arthur’s children, Sherwood and Amy, ultimately inherited the ranch, running cattle for many years as their primary focus.
In the early 1970s, Sherwood and Amy guided the diversification of the ranch, building the Kealakekua Ranch Shopping Center in 1973. The shopping center included a 26,000-square-foot grocery store.
Today, Sherwood’s children, Meg and Nick, are President and Vice President of the Ranch, respectively.
When the original grocery store closed in 1999, the Greenwells thought it was important for the community to continue to have a supermarket. Rhonda Kavanagh, Chief Executive Officer of Kealakekua Ranch, recalls the story:
“They put out a request to all of the supermarkets serving the island, and had zero interest. They didn’t know anything about the supermarket business, but felt so strongly that there be a real supermarket down here that they embarked on having an independent grocery store. They’re not the most lucrative thing—as an independent you don’t get the same wholesale pricing offered to the larger stores—so it comes back to being of service to the community. What were all those people going to do who used to work there? Where were they going to go?”
In 2000, Meg and Nick took a gamble by opening the privately owned ChoiceMART. Rhonda says the store and the shopping center are important in the community because of the jobs they support and because of the patrons who support them. Without ChoiceMART and the KRC, South Kona would be a different place, as it is a gathering place for the local community and routine stop for people to rest and refuel when driving around the south side of the island.
Rhonda says that since she joined the team a year ago, it has been her mission to share the special story behind KRC.
“To me, the great story is H.N. Greenwell, the self-made man. He kept working and reinvesting, made smart decisions, and built a thriving enterprise that has benefited his family and the community for four generations now. I find that terrifically compelling. I thought that if people knew the story and knew how important this place is to the community—what deep roots the family and the store has in the community—and the fact that we support local products and provide jobs for about 80 team members, that people would support us back,” she says.
KRC is community oriented and strives to support charitable interests by donating to causes like the recent Hurricane Iselle recovery in Puna and fundraising drives for The Food Basket, including a $6,000 contribution in January. For over 40 years the Center has hosted completely free community events on the events lawn. The Christmas and Easter extravaganzas are a particular favorite with food, music, hula, keiki games, free family photos, and other activities.
When it comes to the store, Rhonda says H.N. would have been proud to see what the Greenwell General Store inspired.
“I don’t think H.N. Greenwell could have imagined that the family would come full circle in the general store business. That little store is what fueled the entire development of the Greenwell organization. I think he would be delighted because it would have made him proud to know that the family is still serving the community,” she says.
A Different Kind of Grocery Store
“What we do differently than everyone else is have an emphasis on local—we support the community by employing people and making a market for local producers: ranchers, fishermen, farmers, anyone that produces anything on the island, you’re likely to find it in ChoiceMART,” Rhonda says.
In the produce section, local fruits and vegetables line the shelves, produced by both big and small farms. On one particular day, small packages of Poha berries are for sale, delivered by two ladies who live within five miles of the store.
“If you cruise down the aisles, you’ll find plenty of local things. This changes daily based on what our farmers have available. Some have bigger farms and have more of a supply, other times we will buy a handful of something, like Poha berries,” Rhonda says. On another day, there are three kinds of sweet potatoes, and just down the aisle in the dairy section, local eggs produced by a woman with a farm right down the road. Her farm is organic and biodynamic.
In the meat section, there’s a full selection of Hawai‘i Island grass-fed beef and a large selection of fish.
“I like to say we’re a farmers market every day of the week. We are extremely proud to be that market where [farmers] can bring their produce. It’s the same way with local fishermen—a huge selection of local fish, so fresh it could be only two hours from the time it was swimming. There are a number of local fishermen who call us first. It’s a great benefit for the community, knowing there’s this market right here,” Rhonda says.
On the shelves, many unique products stand out. This is because part of the mission of ChoiceMART is to provide excellent personal service. If something isn’t stocked that someone wants, they can special order it. Extras are put on the shelf to see if anyone else wants it too, and if they do, it becomes a regular product.
“The community has really shown their support for the store—that partnership is important because if we don’t have things people want, they aren’t going to shop here no matter how compelling our story is. I think we do a great job of listening to our customers,” Rhonda says.
ChoiceMART also features a fresh-daily bakery and a liquor section so well stocked that it may as well be called its own liquor store.
When she thinks about H.N. and his compelling past, Rhonda laughs, “I think he would have been quite pleased with the wine selection. I do have a record in one of his journals about his love of French champagne. In the 1800s, to get French champagne here onto the Big Island—think about what an endeavor that would have been.”
It’s all within the mission of the original Greenwell, H.N., who once opened a small shop on the remote Kona Coast because he saw a need for supplies there.
More than a century later, his legacy remains preserved on posters in a cool, shady hallway of KRC. And as for the four generations of Greenwells he affected? There are Greenwells scattered throughout the island and the state, and you’ll find Meg and Nick on the Kealakekua Ranch Center property nearly everyday. ❖
Contact ChoiceMart: ChoiceMART.net, KealakekuaRanchCenter.com
Contact writer Le‘a Gleason
