Puako Home Sales / Kohala Coast Properties

Right next door we have the General Store here in Puako. Narand and Urmila Patel run the store and whether they are behind the counter or tidying up out front, Narand and Urmila , proprietors of M’s Puako General Store, constantly interact with residents and visitors in Puako. The Patels embody the hard-working, low key, practical and productive lifestyl for which Big Islanders are known for.

Before they opened the store more than 15 years ago, Puako was a loose collection of a few full time residents, a few seasonal residents, weekend fishing shacks and vacation rental units.
The closest place to buy beverages or a bag of chips was Kawaihae, a 15 minute plus drive by car. The refuse collection point–the dump– was where residents most often ran itno each other . The store quickly became the gathering place and focus of the neighborhood interaction: the place to go when you want to find out what is going on in Puako. You always run into your friends and neighbors at M’s Puako General Store.

The modest 2 story building, located at he head of the tiny neighborhood, is reminiscent of Big Island Plantation buildings , sports a front porch, the perfect place to sit and enjoy a cold drink or ice cream cone and talk story. An exchange book shelf, filled with paperbacks, is well used, as is the neighborhood bulletin board. There is a constant flow of people in and out the doors.
They walk over from nearby homes, stop on their bikes, drive over to pick up a bag of ice, or just stop in to see what’s happening. The strore itself is an unassuming establishment, its the Patels who make it the vibrant heartbeat of Puako.

Before Christmas of 1988, Narand and Urmila had never even heard of Puako. Vacationing from London, they visited friends in Kona and fell in love with the Big Island. They saw an add for strore space in Puako, and after a day at Hapuna Beach , dropped into the tiny beach community to have a look. There was no concession at the beach, they were hot and thirsty, and there was no store around for miles. So it didn;t take them long to decide to open a little strore in Puako. Taken from Thursday North Hawaii News , thursday July 27th, 2000.

Lucky for us having the store next door keeps us happy and well fed. Its always fun going into the store for the coconut wireless.

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