Grand Re-Opening Celebration for Bishop Museum Gift Shop Collectors--New Signature Archives Collection Offered Nov. 17
Just in time for your holiday shopping pleasure, Bishop Museum’s Shop Pacifica will celebrate its Grand Opening on Saturday, November 17 with an all-day program of activities—from authentic Hawaiian craft demonstrations to book readings of new releases, to the introduction of the new Bishop Museum Signature Archives Collection. Grand Opening ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. Admission to the shop is always free.
According to Shop Director Maria Young, the first 100 customers will receive a free copy of Bishop Museum’s new full-color 2008 calendar (one per family) featuring images from the Museum’s unrivaled collection of 18 th and 19 th century art of and about Hawaii.
The Schedule of Events for the Grand Opening on November 17 is as follows:
9 a.m. Opening Ceremony
10-11 a.m. Hand massage demonstration by Oils of Aloha
12-1 p.m. DeSoto Brown will be available to talk about our new Archival
Signature Collection prints
12-2 p.m. Book signing by Pali Jae Lee Hooponono
12 -2 p.m. Book Reading and signing by Robert Lono Ikuwa, Tutu Hamana: The Shaka Sign Story
10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Authentic Hawaiian Craft Demonstrations including
Shell Lei Stringing
Quilting
Feather Lei making
Kapa Printing
Hula performance by Hālau Napua Ho‘olauna I Ka Hula
According to Young, the new Shop Pacifica has put a major focus and emphasis on mission-related products, especially new items from the vast collection of the Bishop Museum Archives. On November 17, she will introduce a limited edition selection of rare original photographs from the Bishop Museum Archives’ Baker Collection. The Signature Archives Collection features beautiful original black and white images, photographed around the 1930s, by renowned Hawaii photographer R. J. Baker. They will be sold already matted and framed, limited edition, while supplies last. Bishop Museum Archivist DeSoto Brown will be on hand to answer questions about the special collections.
Shop Pacifica will also feature many new locally made and created product lines such as Kealopiko, which features original wearable art designed clothing. Renowned artist, Eddie Y, will present two of his latest T-shirt designs. Hand made soap products with wonderful local fragrances and some with medicinal values, and many, many more.
Shop Pacifica closed in mid-June for a major remodeling project to the shop area, visitor admissions center, and front box office. The main visitor entrance area to Bishop Museum reopened quietly on September 28, 2007, with plans to re-stock and celebrate its Grand Opening on November 17, 2007.
The renovation project, which included major upgrades to the admission area and box office as well as Shop Pacifica, took about twelve weeks for completion. The Shop Pacifica makeover included new flooring, upgraded fixtures, better lighting, and new product mix. Modern flat screen ticket information displays is also a new feature making visitor and ticket information easier to read.
“We have a new emphasis on prompt and friendly customer service,” says Maria Young, “We have staffed the new shop with Hookipa Ambassadors who have been trained with Aloha to serve the customers more efficiently, but always with a sense of hospitality and welcome,” says Young.
The new Hookipa Ambassadors have undergone extensive training in a variety of areas including customer service in preparation for the Grand Opening. The new shop also features upgraded retail systems and security measures. In addition a special membership concierge reception area has been added, to better serve the needs of Bishop Museum’s members and others wishing to join the Museum.
Shop Pacifica is known for its wide selection of books about Hawaiian and Polynesian history and culture and as the major distribution outlet for Bishop Museum Press, the fourth largest publisher of books in Hawaii. Bishop Museum Press, founded in 1889, has recently had an impressive resurgence in the number and quality of books it is publishing. Presently under the direction of Ron Cox, Bishop Museum Press has published more than 1,300 titles and distributed more than 1 million books in 72 countries.
Shop Pacifica is also known for its one-of-a-kind items handmade by local crafters and artists, which are not found easily anywhere. Precious and rare Niihau shell leis, woodwork and carvings by Hawaiian craftsmen, and contemporary artwork by Native Hawaiian artists are available. Shop Pacifica also carries an extensive selection of Kraus reprints (Bishop Museum Bulletins dating to the 1920s).
Young values education for Hawaii’s children and keeps in stock important reference materials requested by many public schools, universities, and libraries in Hawaii and from around the world. Shop Pacifica also stocks a variety of children’s books and educational toys with cultural, science, and natural history themes. Bishop Museum logo items and clothing are also available.
“We have undertaken this renovation of our front entrance and gift shop this summer in anticipation and preparation for the grand re-opening of Hawaiian Hall planned for summer of 2009 when we expect a large influx of new visitors to the museum,” says Blair Collis, Vice President of Public Operations for Bishop Museum. “Our goal with these renovations is to provide a much improved overall visitor experience for the nearly half million residents and visitors who come to Bishop Museum to learn about the natural history, art, and culture of Hawaii every year.”
Hawaiian Hall is undergoing a $21 million renovation and reinstallation, the first major renovation since the Museum was founded in 1889. Award-winning designer of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., Ralph Appelbaum is overseeing the reinstallation with the guidance of Bishop museum staff and cultural advisors.
Bishop Museum is designated as the State’s official Museum for Natural and Cultural History. The Museum is the largest repository for cultural artifacts relating to the indigenous peoples of Hawaii and Polynesia in the world. It has an unrivaled art collection featuring rare artworks from the time of first Western contact and impressive, world-renowned collections and lending libraries of natural history specimens.
“Bishop Museum is unique in that it offers art, cultural artifacts, and natural history all presented in one place,” says Collis. “Besides our science and natural history exhibits and exhibitions of contemporary art by Native Hawaiians and art about Hawaii, we are actively engaged in important and groundbreaking science and natural history research around the world.”
For more information about the Grand Opening of the newly renovated Shop Pacifica, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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