Sean Miguel and Mehana Coen, owners of Neighbors Bakeshop, remember meeting each other at a pop-up.
“We both happened to move into the same building,” Sean Miguel says. “We didn’t even know each other (at first) and met at a pop-up in our lobby. Around the same time, we started sharing our baked goods with our neighbors.
“I reached out to Mehana about teaming up, and what started as two neighbors simply sharing their love of baking naturally grew into something much bigger,” she adds.
Miguel says she always loved cooking and baking, but it wasn’t until she started sharing her cookies with friends and family that she “discovered she had a talent for creating something special.”
“Mehana had a similar experience with her cinnamon rolls, which quickly became a favorite among the people around her,” Miguel says.
From there, the two began developing their bakeshop concept and Neighbors officially started in July.
“It was exciting to see something that started so organically between two neighbors turn into a business we’re both genuinely passionate about,” Miguel says.
“We’re neighbors who started baking for our neighbors and now, we collab with our neighbors around Kakaʻako,” Mehana Coen adds.
When it comes to flavors for their cookies and cinnamon rolls, Miguel says they started with the classics. So far, she has made brown butter chocolate chip, Biscoff and s’mores cookies, while Coen has made cinnamon rolls in sweet and savory flavors.
“We leave it to our customers to tell us which they love the best,” Miguel says. “So far, s’mores cookies and the classic cinnamon rolls have been fan favorites.”
Coen has made cinnamon rolls in flavors like birthday cake and ham and cheese. Cinnamon rolls usually cost $5 to $6, depending on the flavor, while cookies cost $5 each.
As the business has expanded, Miguel says they still see some of the same customers at every pop-up.
“We’re really passionate about our community,” she says. “We want to stay as local as we can because our people love our products. We love our community and the amazing support they’ve shown us since day one.”
Neighbors Bakeshop is currently at fishcake in Kakaʻako on every other Wednesday. For updates, follow the business on Instagram.
“We take pre-orders and we’re open to collabs,” Miguel says. “We have more pop-ups in the works.
“Mehana and I are both mothers to little ones,” she adds. “Baking and growing a business has really given us the opportunity to do something we have so much fun doing, while still allowing us time to spend with our kids. We’ve developed a genuine friendship, and we’re both excited to see where this all takes us.”
CONTACT
Neighbors Bakeshop
Instagram: @neighborsbakeshop
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
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