Austin is saying aloha to a Hawaiian retail store.
Maui Wowi Hawaiian has opened a franchise inside the HEB grocery store at 11521 N. FM 620, with plans to highlight the aloha spirit.
Local franchise partners Lance and Lourdes Moore opened the store, which sells authentic Hawaiian products including smoothies, coffee and other odds and ends.
"Maui Wowi Hawaiian and HEB have given us a terrific opportunity to share our Aloha Spirit and love of all things Hawaiian with HEB customers in Austin," Lance Moore says. "We're excited to offer customers the opportunity to step out of the grocery store experience for a few minutes and escape to paradise, where they can experience Maui Wowi's healthy smoothies and coffee beverages."
The Moores are also among the first Maui Wowi Hawaiian franchise partners to capitalize on the company's newly established relationship with HEB, a San Antonio-based supermarket chain with more than 300 stores throughout Texas and Mexico.
The Maui Wowi Hawaiian/HEB collaboration enables Maui Wowi Hawaiian franchise partners like the Moores to open retail outlets inside HEB stores. The Moores' retail store will serve as one of several test sites for the Maui Wowi Hawaiian/HEB collaboration. Their results will help determine the future roll out of additional Maui Wowi retail locations inside HEB stores.
"As some of our first franchise partners to take advantage of Maui Wowi's relationship with HEB, Lance and Lourdes are helping our company extend the special Maui Wowi Hawaiian experience to HEB customers," says Michael Haith, CEO of Maui Wowi Hawaiian. "They are also paving the way for other business leaders to follow in their footsteps. For this and many other reasons, we're pleased to welcome Lance and Lourdes into the Maui Wowi Hawaiian Ohana."
Prior to opening their Maui Wowi Hawaiian franchise in Austin, the Moores worked as information systems managers in the high tech industry.
Founded in 1983, Maui Wowi Hawaiian has nearly 500 franchised units in its worldwide franchise.