There is nothing cooler than a mother-son duo. At least, that’s what Jade Eckardt and her 15-year-old son, Kaulualoha Aipa, think.
The two started a side hustle building custom patio coolers out of upcycled materials called North Fork Coolers earlier this year. The idea grew out of a Eckardt’s love for North Fork yard sale hopping and Aipa’s desire to start a business of his own.
“A couple of months ago, I said, ‘Let me give you a little bit of my mom perspective,’” Eckardt says. “’Here’s a few reasons why I think this could actually be feasible for you and if you want to do it, we could do it together.’”
Their coolers typically feature distinctive brass or copper hardware collected from yard sales, screwed onto wood from old fences, furniture and scrap piles, in which an Igloo or Coleman cooler is nestled.
“It’s been fun finding the wood and making it into something new,” says Aipa.
The coolers are the only component purchased as new, for sanitary purposes.
“Working with reclaimed wood keeps things interesting because it’s ever-changing, and that’s fun,” Eckardt says. “Every piece has a story, its own quirks and challenges to work with depending on its life before we found it, and we love figuring out how to give each piece new life.”
The mother and son pair, turned co-founders, moved to their Greenport home – built by Eckardt’s grandparents – eight years ago. Their basement serves as their workshop, where they use Eckardt’s grandfather’s old workbench.
Eckardt was born on the North Fork but was raised on the Big Island of Hawaii from the age of six on. Her fondness for sustainability started there.
“I was raised in [sustainability] to the extreme,” she says. “Where I was raised in Hawaii, we were off the grid, with water catchment and simple solar in a whole different way than being off the grid is now.”
Aipa, who was born on the North Shore of Oahu, is an avid athlete and outdoorsman like his mother.
“Surfing has always been our thing since before he could walk,” Eckardt says. “And while we don’t surf as much since moving here, we still take surf trips when we can. This project has become a new kind of shared adventure, and hopefully the business will help fund more surf trips, kind of a full-circle moment.”
Neither of the two had advanced building experience, but they both love being creative.
By watching some YouTube videos and relying on inspiration from a friend who built two custom coolers, they quickly caught on.
The mother and son have welcomed the pursuit that comes with creating coolers during the colder months in Greenport.
“Winters do get hard,” Eckardt says. “And it was really nice to have a focus and even have a goal of going to the yard sales.”
Eckardt and Aipa sell on an Etsy site or by custom order via text message, 808-936-0040.
Each cooler is custom-made, and Eckardt has priced them at around $1,900 — pricey to say the least, but for Eckardt and Aipa, the time is where the cost accumulates. They can be customized with a bottom shelf or not, and the cooler size can be adjusted within reason.
Now, Eckardt and Aipa are designing a cooler with additionally counter space.
“Working with my mom, it’s a way to do something together even though we’re both busy,” Aipa says.
