Aofia’s Culture Shop keeps island kultura alive

Owner Aofia Tuiolosega said Aofia’s Culture Shop’s goal is to keep the island culture alive by making mwars, leis, and other cultural items available for purchase. (MARK RABAGO)

Aofia’s Culture Shop as its name already denotes tries to keep Pacific island culture alive with the plethora of island- and tribal-theme items they sell.

Owner Aofia Tuiolosega said their quaint little shop in Chalan Kanoa soft-opened last year but they’re still waiting for their sign to come up to make their opening finally official.

“Our goal is to keep our culture alive. So every item we sell here is a cultural piece. Like the mwars that are from all over the Pacific and Micronesia. These are flower head crowns and leis because mwars and leis are for all occasions and not just for graduations. We have mwars and leis for funerals, weddings, etc. and then all the other little cultural things you see around we make all of these ourselves,” she said.

And with graduation season just around the corner, Aofia’s Culture Shop is expected to get busy in the coming few weeks.

“The mwars have always been our bestsellers because they’re a cultural piece. Locals have been our primary customers but we do get a lot of off-island customers who were originally from here, who miss something like this and even have these shipped to where they are now.”

A multitude of mwars or flower head crowns for all occasions are displayed at Aofia’s Culture Shop. (MARK RABAGO)

Aofia’s Culture Shop is located across Dial Rent to Own along Beach Road in Chalan Kanoa. (MARK RABAGO)

Unlike other shops that sell leis, Aofia’s Culture Shop only charges a flat fee of $25 for their flower garlands.

“When you purchase the lei for $25 the labor comes for free. Let’s say you want money there, right? You just bring your own money, whatever increments like $1 or $5 and we put it on your lei for free. No surprise fees,” said Tuiolosega.

The daughter of cultural icon Flowerpot Salas said she originally branched out with her own store after realizing the need to preserve island culture for the next generation.

“Mom didn’t want to lock herself down into one building. She wanted to be mobile and be out there with the community. So she said ‘just open your own store’ and then she’ll stay in the community.”

Aside from the leis and mwars, Aofia’s Culture Shop also carries several island- and tribal-themed bags, slippers, and accessories.

“The bags have a modern fashion theme. We all like to travel and when we go off-island we want something to show off our home, like the CNMI seal.”

Bags at Aofia’s Culture Shop retail at $80 for the whole set and it comes with a flower, while the slippers of varied island-inspired designs are only $20.

Tuiolosega said her shop also displays and sells local artists’ masterpieces and even makes their own pure coconut oil.

“Culture is very important to our family. So we try to keep it alive in our business. By having these readily made to physically purchase you’re having a piece of our culture and there’s a lot of stories behind all of these pieces. They’re all different pieces, and they have different meanings to our culture. So it’s not just a business, it’s a business that also tries to preserve our culture,” she said.

As tourists slowly return to the islands, some have wandered to Aofia’s Culture Shop and Tuiolosega welcomes them even if they don’t really purchase anything.

“Tourists love to come by and model a piece of our flowers.  We let them try on all our products for free and when they go back home it’s like they’re promoting the islands to potential tourists.”

Aofia’s Culture Shop is open Monday through Friday, from 10am to 8pm, and Saturdays from 11am to 5pm. Outside of those hours, Tuiolosega said she can make appointments for emergency purchases.

Aofia’s Culture Shop is located across Dial Rent to Own along Beach Road in Chalan Kanoa. For more information, call (670) 287-7131 or email aofiasenmi@gmail.com.