Retail Revival -

DRUG CHAIN OPENS STORE IN MAKAHA . . .

With the opening of a Long's Drug Store this morning, the community “at the end of the road” has a new retail presence not seen since the days of the former Cornet Store, which closed its doors in 1995.

The former Cornet building, at the corner of Makaha Valley Rd. and Farrington Hwy., once housed a retailer famous for its reputation of having everything anyone would need on hand, in recent years had degraded from time and neglect.

Now renamed the “Makaha Gateway” building, the entire corner has undergone a sprucing up, with fresh paint, a refreshened parking lot, new murals, and accents that mimic ancient Hawaiian pictographs.

Only a bit more than about half the size of the Waianae's Long's, Makaha's new store, nevertheless, seems to contain all the same products and services carried by its larger neighbor, just in lesser quantities.

Folks who frequent warehouse-type establishments should feel right at home inside the Makaha Long's, as the store has a no-frills atmosphere with minimal accoutrements.

All-in-all, however, having a well-known, brand name establishment revitalize what was once one of the Waianae Coast's most bustling of retail corner's, is a presence sure to be welcomed by the Makaha ahupua'a.