Harbors Vintage Brings Y2K and Streetwear Style to Honolulu
A vintage streetwear shop born from pop-ups, Harbors Vintage now has two locations and a loyal following. Owner Arik Ma saw a gap, and filled it.
Harbors Vintage, a store specializing in apparel and goods from the ’00s and earlier, started as a passion project, says owner and founder Arik Ma. He says that while thrift stores were easy to find back in 2016, there weren’t “really a lot of options for vintage clothing or streetwear in Hawai‘i. So I was like, ‘Oh, this could be a good opportunity.’”
He launched the business with pop-up events before establishing a store in 2018 in Kaimukī. He later relocated to South Beretania Street in Makiki and subsequently opened a second location at the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikīkī. Ma says he accumulates stock in many ways, but most of it comes from people who bring their vintage clothes and streetwear to him. “They’re just excited that someone else will also get a kick out of wearing it or enjoying it,” he says.
Harbors Vintage also facilitates trades that can be based on customers’ evolving needs. For instance, streetwear enthusiasts just entering professional life can exchange their duds for aloha shirts and office apparel. Or people who collect a lot of sneakers then have a baby, Ma says. “So they sell the shoes and now they’re looking for vintage baby clothes. It’s nice to see customers at different points of their life.”
