CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Kale's Natural Foods owners Faith Gibb and her husband, Kale, holding their son, Stormont, stood by the produce section last week at their store in the Hawaii Kai Shopping Center. "Hawaii Kai just screamed at me in terms of demographics, forecasted growth and lack of immediate competition," Kale said.

Growing, naturally

The Gibbs have expanded their store and revenue -- not to mention their family -- with a broad selection at their natural foods store

Kale and Faith Gibb have had a busy year.

Sales at their Hawaii Kai natural foods store, Kale's Natural Foods, grew by a third in 2007. The Hawaiian-born duo also tackled a 2,000-square-foot store expansion just before the birth of their now 5-month-old son.

It's not surprising that Kale often pulls a 14-hour shift, while Faith splits her time between store administration and caring for their infant.

The couple is committed to strengthening community-oriented grocery shopping through natural foods education. After nearly four years in business, Kale and his employees greet many regulars by name.

"You have to be able to drop whatever you are doing at any given time to help," he said. "A lot of it is talking story all day. Something about me, I need to keep moving. So I'm learning how to take deep breaths and be patient."

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Kale's Natural Foods co-owner Faith Gibb restocked some shelves last week at the store in Hawaii Kai.

For Kale Gibb, starting a business was a matter of survival.

After being diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 1995, Gibb turned to natural foods and supplements to aid his recovery.

It worked. So well in fact that Gibb gave up his job as a medical research program coordinator following surgery that year and embarked on an immersion in the natural foods industry. That journey led to the opening of Kale's Natural Foods with his wife Faith in Hawaii Kai nearly four years ago.

"I saw an opportunity to help others," said Kale, who was born and raised in Kaaawa. "I found that the stores on Oahu at that time didn't really have much to offer in terms of help."

The store, which opened in August 2004 with Kale, his wife and cousin as the only employees, has expanded to a staff of 10 in 4,800 square feet in the Hawaii Kai Shopping Center. Kale took over a vacant neighboring retail space last year, increasing his room for organic and natural foods, supplements and household products by nearly 75 percent.

Revenue is growing as well, jumping by more than a third each of the past two years, Kale said. But getting there wasn't easy.

After quitting his job, Kale traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to learn about the business from his older sister, who owns three natural foods stores in the state.

"I thought I'd be there for six months to a year, figure everything out, be able to come back home and open it," said Kale, 41. "A combination of things kept me there closer to eight years."

Faith, who split time between graduate studies in human resources at Hawaii Pacific University and trips to work with Kale in Iowa, says her husband deserves the credit for the store's success.

"He did all of the footwork and all of the legwork," she said. "It's extremely exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. I wouldn't say I'm surprised because I'm never surprised at what my husband can do. I am optimistic that it will continue to go well."

Kale, an economics graduate from the University of Hawaii, returned to Hawaii in 2002, took what he calls a crash course in accounting, and finalized his business plan. He credits all that work for the funding he received through the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund that allows people of native Hawaiian heritage to borrow up to $75,000, or about a fifth of what the Gibbs needed to open the store. Kale also secured a Small Business Administration-backed loan from First Hawaiian Bank.

The couple lives within walking distance of the store, where Kale routinely puts in 14-hour days and Faith, 37, tackles administrative duties three days a week. She recently took leave from her job as a flight attendant with Hawaiian Airlines to look after their 5-month-old son, Stormont.

"As far as the staff, I'm pretty sure that they don't really notice the whole husband and wife thing," Kale said. "We really work well together. We rely on each other to get things done."

Kale said he hopes to educate customers about the benefits of natural and organic products. It's not uncommon for an employee to spend 15 minutes answering a customer's questions or for repeat shoppers to be greeted by name.

"I spent a lot of time looking at various neighborhoods," Kale said. "I thought the neighborhood model would work best. Hawaii Kai just screamed at me in terms of demographics, forecasted growth and lack of immediate competition."

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Kale's Natural Foods owner Kale Gibb helped customer Art Hernandez last week at the Hawaii Kai store, which is nearing its four-year anniversary. Hernandez was looking for some moisturizer.

"Your basics are organic milk and dairy -- those are really key," Kale said. "You want to keep those in stock. In terms of produce, we buy as much as we can locally -- the rest we import from an organic produce distributor on the mainland."

Kimberly Clark has supplied locally grown organic fruits and vegetables to Kale through her produce distribution business, Just Add Water, since his store opened.

"Kale has always been super supportive," she said. "Most people are not willing to spend the money on local produce. They get it from the mainland because it's cheap."

Clark, who makes weekly shipments to Kale of everything from sprouts, papayas and bananas to avocados and coffee, said higher prices can make it difficult to sell local produce.

"You just have to be a really creative business person," she said. "Their clientele appreciates what it means to have local and organic."

Natural foods are hotter sellers than supplements, Kale said, with frozen foods and cleaning supplies remaining consistently popular. Faith said they doubled the store's supply of cleaning products during last year's expansion. They are also planning to add a hot foods menu, including soups, salads and sandwiches by this summer, she said.

"The name of the game in the natural foods industry is having selection," Kale said. "There's so many products and there's so much awareness now."

Kale said he expects a 10 percent drop in sales growth after Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market opens its first Hawaii store in Kahala this year. The natural foods retailer is also opening a 67,000-square-foot store in Ward Centers in January.

"I don't expect that hit to be long-lasting," Kale said. "As long as we keep doing what we are doing in terms of embracing customer service and positioning ourselves as a community store with knowledgeable staff willing to walk people through the natural foods options, then I think we will be fine."