Down to Earth Kahului Expands With Re-Opening Event

By Maui Now Staff

Down to Earth, as viewed from Dairy Road, Kahului. Courtesy photo.

The Down to Earth organic supermarket in Kahului will host a re-opening event to highlight its expansion on Saturday, June 22.

According to a company news release, live performances from Paula Fuga, Mike Love and Sam Gonsalves will start at noon.

There will also be cooking classes, health and nutrition lectures, face painting, and food sampling.

The expansion included a “major” renovation and a conversion of 3,000 square feet of storage space into retail space, for a new total of 9,000 square feet, a spokesman said.

“The bigger and renovated store has many new products and allows us to offer customers a substantially wider range of local, fresh, organic and natural products. We more than doubled the size of the chill and frozen department, nearly doubled the size of the bulk food department, greatly improved our deli, and we expanded the wellness, grocery, and produce departments,” said Down to Earth “Chief Organic Officer” (CEO/CFO) Mark Fergusson.

Down to Earth says that the renovations and the new Kahului store are designed to have the look of the company’s new flagship 10,000 square-foot store in Kapolei, Oahu, which opened in 2011. To improve energy efficiency, the new store installed “green state-of-the-art” air conditioning, refrigeration, and LED lighting systems.

The re-opening event starts with a Hawaiian blessing at 9 a.m., followed by a sale from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. where customers will receive 35% off from a range of 100 items, says the company.

Dana Naylor, Maui health and nutrition coach, will give a lecture at 11 a.m., “Sugar Blues: limiting sugar in your diet.” Carmela Wolf, Down to Earth wellness manager, will give a lecture at 2 p.m., “Healthy Living: making an impact on blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and weight naturally.”

In addition to its Kahului store, the company has four locations on Oahu: Honolulu, Kailua, Pearlridge, and Kapolei.