Big & Small Business Memories - Chapter 2

[hawaiian_pride]

funny me and my wife have been contemplating what used to be on the islands. We'll remember pearlridge phase I and II. We kinda reminsced about those good ole years, when we were discussing what used to be in phase I; I kinda commented that Indian Imports used to be there... any body agree with me?? We remembered when we left that I think they called it Uptown and Downtown. That's the last i remembered since 2004.

[Menehune Man]

I remember "India Imports" in Ala Moana.
Got all kinds of posters and stuff there.

They may have moved to Pearl Ridge though.

[Keanu]

The good old days were those days prior to the large influx of transplants moving here from the Continental United States. :p

[Leo Lakio]

The good old days were those days prior to the large influx of transplants moving here from the Continental United States. :pWould that be the mid- to late-1800s? ;)

[scrivener]

The good ol' days are now.

[Leo Lakio]

The good ol' days are now.Almost - these are the good NEW days. They don't replace the old, but stand alongside them.

[scrivener]

...and what the heck are gold old days?

[Leo Lakio]

...and what the heck are gold old days?Actually, he called them the "gold ole days." In the late 1800s, successful Mexican bullfighters were rewarded with gold jewelry, so that era was known as the Gold Olé Days.




:rolleyes:

[craigwatanabe]

I would imagine the good old days would be anyone's rememberance of a time before the current days...hmmmm...duh.

The good old days of Pearlridge Phase I and II? Hmmm coming from East Honolulu, I can't recall them days there except when they finished building Phase I and called it Pearlridge despite it being in Aiea or something like that.

I loved listening to Mike Buck talk about the old days in East Honolulu. We both grew up in that area but in different times. I was born and lived in East Honolulu at a time when the pig farms were being transformed into subdivisions in Waialae Nui valley and when Kahala mall was called the Waialae Shopping center and Ala Moana Shopping center was the worlds largest one of it's kind. Before the Waialae overpass was built and Hawaii Kai was just another subdivision and Kalihi was a safe town to walk around at night.

[scrivener]

I would imagine the good old days would be anyone's remembrance of a time before the current days...
That's what I meant when I said the good ol' days are now. We'll look back later and think things were better in 2008 than in 2028.

[craigwatanabe]

That's what I meant when I said the good ol' days are now. We'll look back later and think things were better in 2008 than in 2028.

Oh man then the good old days for us is HT? Now that will be fond memories when I'm sitting at McDonalds sipping on my Senior coffee.:D

[DNR55]

funny me and my wife have been contemplating what used to be on the islands. We'll remember pearlridge phase I and II. We kinda reminsced about those good ole years, when we were discussing what used to be in phase I; I kinda commented that Indian Imports used to be there... any body agree with me?? We remembered when we left that I think they called it Uptown and Downtown. That's the last i remembered since 2004.
===================
When Holiday Mart WAS Holiday Mart
http://members.aol.com/dnrhand/hn.jpg
When you could get a zig-zag with your Slurpee at 7-11
http://members.aol.com/dnrhand/zig.jpg

[scrivener]

Which 7-Eleven is that? It looks strangely like the late seventies, but I thought the first 7-Eleven store in Hawaii came along in the eighties. Please correct my memory!

Also, Holiday Mart sucked. People who look back fondly on it don't seem to remember that it was dingy and kind of depressing.

[mel]

The "golde ole" days in Hawaii is just about anything from before 2001 I guess, and the farther back in my life they go, the "golder" they may have been. Of course I like all of the tech and convenience that has brought us today, so that aside, here is a list of stuff that I liked from long ago.


KKUA Radio @ 690 on the dial - top 40 HNL to Big Island
American Top 40 with Casey Kasem on KPOI, KKUA, KMVI and KPUA.
KPOI 1380 radio top 40 hits
KPUA Weekly Top 21 in Hilo with J.K.
Only 3 radio stations in Hilo - All AM - KHLO, KPUA, KIPA
Aku on KGMB Radio - and Aku news on KPUA and KMVI
Tom "Dynamite" Dancer on KORL radio
Hawaii Five-0 on CBS / KGMB TV
Checkers & Pogo on KGMB TV
Captain Honolulu on KHVH TV
Only 4 TV channels on the Big Island, all free
No FM radio on the Big island until late 1970s
No telemarketers, no junk faxes, no email spam
No internet, no computers, hahahaha!
Many BBS computers in the 1980s and early 1990s
Kress Store Downtown Hilo
Woolworth Ala Moana
When Ala Moana Shopping Center was not an upscale tourist trap
Woolworth in Downtown Hilo
Kaiko'o Hilo Mall
Tex Drive In Malasadas for 10¢ each or $1 a dozen
Hamakua Fountain and "ice shave" 10¢
Peoples' Theater Honokaa
Star Wars in 6-channel Dolby Sound @ the Cinerama Theater
The Cinerama Theater
The Waikiki 1, 2, & 3 Theaters
Holiday Mart, Daiei - loved em all
Jelly's @ 404 Piikoi St. - big sidewalk sales 7 LPs for $1
Radio Free Hawaii
Tower Records
DJs Sound City
Froggies'
Project 3 LTD in Hilo
Bob Sevey, Tim Tindall and Joe Moore on KGMB TV News
Star Trek reruns daily on KGMB TV
Live UH Rainbow Basketball on KGMB during "Fabulous 5" era
University of Hawaii Football team wins Holiday Bowl
Hawaiian Airlines DC-9 flights to Waimea-Kohala Airport
Hawaiian Airlines Convair 640 prop planes
Hawaiian Airlines Dash 7, Shorts 330 prop planes - rode them all
$19 coupons from Mid Pacific Air - YS11 prop planes baby!
$9 flights on Go! Airlines, fare War
Flying interisland using pre-paid coupons, no change fees!
Aloha Airlines
Aloha Airlines Boeing 737-400 - yes they flew these interisland!
Disovery Air, Mahalo Airlines, Royal Hawaiian Airlines
Kukuiau Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii
Watching Halemaumau eruption in 1968 - lava lake
Hiking to see Mauna Ulu eruption in 1974
Mauna Loa eruption 1975, 1984
6.25 earthquake in 1973
Total solar eclipse went bust in 1991 @ Waikoloa when clouds cover totality!!!! arrrgh!!!
25¢ adult fares on The Bus
Gasoline at less than a dollar per gallon
$1.59 per gallon gas price


I'm sure there are a lot more I can think about. Perhaps these will jog your mind.

[DNR55]

Which 7-Eleven is that? It looks strangely like the late seventies, but I thought the first 7-Eleven store in Hawaii came along in the eighties. Please correct my memory!

Also, Holiday Mart sucked. People who look back fondly on it don't seem to remember that it was dingy and kind of depressing.
========================

Isn't this thread in the wrong place?

I am not sure where this 7-11 is but my initial feeling is Piikoi at Kinau. Both photos are circa late 1979. Here is an outside shot.
http://members.aol.com/dnrhand/711.jpg
As for Holiday Mart, I do not remember it being so bad. The Kaheka street store seemed ok to me. Back then, it was Holiday Mart or GEM if you needed hamburger, buns, cabbage, a pair of shorts, a Lorretta Lynn album, oil and filter and you did not want to go to 4 different stores to get them.

[hawaiian_pride]

almost forgot remember the gold ole plantation store on waipahu depot road. Arakawa's. talk about deals at that store. i remember when it closed back in 1994-1995.

[scrivener]

I am not sure where this 7-11 is but my initial feeling is Piikoi at Kinau.
That slope in the background makes it look kinda like the one on Waialae. Could it have been there that long?

[Pomai]

I am not sure where this 7-11 is but my initial feeling is Piikoi at Kinau. Both photos are circa late 1979. Here is an outside shot.I think Scriv' is correct. This looks like the location on the corner of Waialae (Makai side) and 2nd avenue, just a block down from the St. Louis/Chaminade campus entrance.

[DNR55]

I think Scriv' is correct. This looks like the location on the corner of Waialae (Makai side) and 2nd avenue, just a block down from the St. Louis/Chaminade campus entrance.
=================
Hey you folks are pretty sharp!
My son at St. Louis confirms that location. Prior to having installed a gas pump. If you Google Earth you can still see the house with the green roof in the background.

I also lament the passing of Arakawas in Waipahu. Talk about a real old fashioned country general store with a wide variety of items....I bought the washtub in this picture AND the video camera that is taking this picture from Arakawa's about 20 years ago. I still have the washtub and it is still in use today.
http://members.aol.com/dnrhand/tub.jpg

[admin]

Isn't this thread in the wrong place?Good point. Since this thread seems to be a close relative of the "Big & Small Business Memories (http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?p=190909)" thread, we'll just move and rename it to continue the conversation.

[Creative-1]

[QUOTE=DNR55;191181]=================
I also lament the passing of Arakawas in Waipahu. Talk about a real old fashioned country general store with a wide variety of items.QUOTE]

I took Goro Arakawa out for dinner Saturday to Highway Inn in Waipahu. He's the youngest ("Go" = 5th) son of Zenpan and Ruth Arakawa, and was sent to NYU to learn business. He'll be 86 later this month.

He said he had a lot of Jewish friends there and learned to appreciate bagels and Yiddish. His favorite words. I asked him? Schlock, yenta, shlep...

He shared with my wife and I about meeting his wife, Mary, at a church dance in New York. He said 5-6 of his friends would pile into cars and the girls would have to sit on their laps. "Having a girl sit on your lap or squished up against you, whew, that was a big thrill," he said.

He also said he's wear cashmere sweaters because "the girls liked to snuggle up against something soft and warm. Smart, yeah?"

A year after dating, he arranged to be on the Staten Island Ferry on the first day of Spring, 1954. As the ferry passed the Statue of Liberty, he put a ring on Mary's finger.

Mary said it must have cost a fortune!" "Yeah, I had to buy four boxes of Cracker Jacks to get it," Goro joked.

[Pomai]

When Holiday Mart WAS Holiday Mart
http://members.aol.com/dnrhand/hn.jpg

Then it became...

http://www.96seven44.com/images/daieikaheka_6.06.jpg

To now what is...

http://www.96seven44.com/images/don_quijote_lightbox.gif

Since we have Creative-1 here, he might want to chime in on how this Kaheka property was once the first location of Consolidated Theaters in Hawaii!

I was just here today shopping after work. Got a stall, no problem.

Speaking of which in these comparison of photos, look at the design of the cars back then, compared to today.

And after all these years, some of us still call it "Holiday Mart".

[Creative-1]

Since we have Creative-1 here, he might want to chime in on how this Kaheka property was once the first location of Consolidated Theaters in Hawaii!

Sure. Here's a picture taken above Ala Moana Center (rectangular block) as the foundation was being leveled in 1955.

In the foreground is "The Drive In" as it was called. Consolidated opened the state’s first outdoor drive in, initially called The Drive In, in 1955.

It became the Kapiolani Drive-in after the Kam Drive In opened in 1962. The Drive In was huge. The entrance was on Kapiolani Blvd. near Kaheka St., and the exit on Kalakaua Ave. near Makaloa St. It could hold 750 cars.

Consolidated was purchased by Pacific Drive In Theatres of California in 1959 for this property, which was quickly sold.

Another interesting sight in the picture is of Ala Moana Beach Park...without Magic Island!

Magic Island was first proposed in 1955 by Henry Kaiser and finally completed in 1972.

Bob Sigall

[craigwatanabe]

Speaking of which in these comparison of photos, look at the design of the cars back then, compared to today.

And after all these years, some of us still call it "Holiday Mart".

The sad part is that all the cars now days look all the same.

[Kalihiboy]

Just saw that the McDonalds at Ala Moana is relocating to mauka side, will be next to Foodland I think.

Wasn't McDonalds and Foodland located next to each other back when Foodland occuppied part of what is now known as the Foodcourt?

Aj

[Kalihiboy]

The 7-11 on Waialae and Sierra Drive has been there since at least 1981, saw it in a first season episode of Magnum PI.

Aj

[Kalihiboy]

The "golde ole" days in Hawaii is just about anything from before 2001 I guess, and the farther back in my life they go, the "golder" they may have been. Of course I like all of the tech and convenience that has brought us today, so that aside, here is a list of stuff that I liked from long ago.


Tex Drive In Malasadas for 10¢ each or $1 a dozen
Star Trek reruns daily on KGMB TV


I'm sure there are a lot more I can think about. Perhaps these will jog your mind.

Tex Drive Inn is still around and some of the best cheeseburgers I've ever had. Classic Star Trek reruns are back on KGMB on weekends I think.

Aj

[Kalihiboy]

Another Taco Bell/Pizza Hut combo closed a week or so ago at Manoa Marketplace. It seems Taco Bell's are closing over here, that marks I think 3 that have closed in the last 6 months or so, the one on Waialae Avenue near City Mill and the Keeomoku/King Street location.

Aj

[craigwatanabe]

The 7-11 on Waialae and Sierra Drive has been there since at least 1981, saw it in a first season episode of Magnum PI.

Aj

At the City Mill across the street it used to be this big pizza place but the drinks were too expensive so you'd go across the street any buy a big gulp at that 7-Eleven and eat your pizza.

[scrivener]

I am not sure where this 7-11 is but my initial feeling is Piikoi at Kinau. Both photos are circa late 1979. Here is an outside shot.
http://members.aol.com/dnrhand/711.jpg

I was at Kaimuki Library Sunday and decided to use some of my time to look this up. I was pretty sure there were no 7-Eleven Stores in Hawaii as early as 1979, so I picked up a 1979 phone directory and this is what I saw. Sorry, I know it's blurry, but the camera phone doesn't do well with close-ups. Shoulda photocopied.

http://mitchellkdwyer.net/stuff/7-Eleven2.jpghttp://mitchellkdwyer.net/stuff/7-Eleven1.jpg


There are two numbers listed under "Seven Eleven Food Store," and one is the district office. The other is Waialae. Ta-da!

[Frankie's Market]

So the 7-11 in Waialae was the first in Hawaii? Interesting.

First one I can remember was the one in Nuuanu, right across from Kawananakoa Inter. School. I don't remember the exact opening date, but it was definitely no later than 1980. That particular one had 7-11's corporate office upstairs.

[Frankie's Market]

The sad part is that all the cars now days look all the same.

Wanna know what I think? It's because the traffic is getting worse. Ergo, people are spending more time on the roads, esp. families who are shuttling kids around to school, soccer practice, piano lessons, whereva.

More time on the road means the kids today get more bored and restless than in previous generations. To keep their kids occupied, parents have been purchasing larger vehicles to carry around more junk like toys, books, and electronic games. And so it goes;

Minivans > station wagons

SUVs > sedans

At least, that's my theory.

[craigwatanabe]

Oh man Kakesako Jewlers is closing (http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/16/news/story04.html). My dad bought my first watch from that place when I was 12-years old. Too bad another small business going the wayside.

[scrivener]

I was driving on School Street past the Hungry Lion and noticed that the windows at Stanley Ito Florist are papered. Anyone know the deal?

[Kalihiboy]

I think the new Stanley Ito Florist has been relocated to the building that was re-habbed a block east or so of Hungry Lion.

I noticed the Jack in the Box across from the Cinerama is now closed, not sure if this is for renovations or permanent.

Aj

[zff]

Anyone here remember the Skyslide?

[Pomai]

Anyone here remember the Skyslide?I have very vague memories of the SkySlide, except that the slide used shag rugs to slide down on, and that it was a part of Gibson's in Mapunapuna. But I do (vaguely) remember sliding down it!

According to the Companies We Keep (http://www.companieswekeep.com/), it began in 1966 when three local business men converted their Family Fair store in Mapunapuna into Gibson's, which at the time was a 250-store national chain. This was an attempt to improve their buying power, which would allow them to lower prices on goods 10-15% less than the competition here in Hawaii.

Texas-based H.G. Gibson Sr.'s Gibson's empire eventually crumbled, and the only stores remaining today are in the Majuro Islands.

[modpirate]

Anyone here remember the Skyslide?

I remember the yellow one next to Gibson's. I think there was a blue one somewhere, but I never went to that one.

[zff]

The blue one was in Waipahu near Sunset Drive-In. :)

It was near where the Checkers and the car dealerships are now. I grew up in Waipahu, so that's the one I used to go to. I don't think I ever went to the one next to Gibsons.

[kani-lehua]

yep. the blue one in waipahu. we used to go there, too.

[craigwatanabe]

I remember that blue one too. I got one nasty burn on my arm going down that slide. It so traumatized me that to this date I wince when I see my kids go down those fiberglass slides at the parks.:o

[PearlCityMike]

The original skyslide was rainbow colored. Then they repainted it all orange.

Can't remember which one was in Waipahu and which was in Mapunapuna - the orange one or the sky blue with red pinstripes on the raised grooves.

I got burns my first time on it too. Ankles too close to the side once, and another time leaned back and burned elbows.

[Kalihiboy]

Hungry Lion will be closing, replaced by Walgreens and saw on the news tonight the Aina Haina Shopping Center will have a major facelift. McDonalds has been given the option to demolish the building and re-build or go elsewhere. That is the oldest McDonalds in the state of Hawaii correct? Has the structure changed many times since the 60's or is it the same as its always been.

Aj

[Kaukura]

At first when i read your post, i thought, hey, great, we could use a store like that in the neighborhood, as it's difficult to rely on the two 7-11's for food and sundrie options. But i was wrong to think they'd occupy that little Hungry Lion space.. No, it seems they are going to tear down the entire shopping plaza and rebuild.

I like going to Huckleberry's, and Aloha Sushi and Subway. I wonder if the chinese kitchen will be going away. Or the Thai place or the Korean place.. that 24 hour laundromat? Not much details on what is going apart from that "upper" wing from Subway to Hungry Lion..

[na alii]

I remember "India Imports" in Ala Moana.
Got all kinds of posters and stuff there.

They may have moved to Pearl Ridge though.They had an India Imports in Pearlridge too but it went the same time as the Ala Moana store back in the 80s.

[Frankie's Market]

At first when i read your post, i thought, hey, great, we could use a store like that in the neighborhood, as it's difficult to rely on the two 7-11's for food and sundrie options. But i was wrong to think they'd occupy that little Hungry Lion space.. No, it seems they are going to tear down the entire shopping plaza and rebuild.

Wow! And that plaza isn't that old, either. Wasn't it built in the 1980s? I still remember the old Chun Hoon store standing on the site.

[PearlCityMike]

I remember Haouli's in Pearl City until the late 80's when Chuck E. Cheese took over the spot. Anyone recall that Elvis Lion called The King at Chuck's? It was this tall mechanical thing that stood on 2 legs and played recorded Elvis tunes when you fed it a token. Whenever I hear the song Teddy Bear I picture that lion swaying stiffly and tapping its foot.

A few of the little kids I knew were so scared of that thing that they'd cry because it was so liflelike to them.

Pizza, beer, and an Elvis lion. Does it get any better than that?

[Ron Whitfield]

If only there was still a Shakeys Pizza parlor, and an Elvis Lion!
Shakeys made the best 'cheap' pizza.

[PearlCityMike]

Shakey's in Pearl City was a fun hangout for years. When I was a little kid we loved watching the cooks throw the pizza dough up in the air and then catch it.

When I was older I liked Shakey's as a change of pace to Pizza Hut. I could never get into that oily pan pizza and still miss the old thick & chewy style that Pizza Hut used to offer.

[gchun]

Anyone here remember the Skyslide?

Thanks for that memory! I had a great time going to the Mapunapuna one with my brother and cousins. As a kid, that walk up the stairs seemed to take forever!!

Garry

[na alii]

Shakey's in Pearl City was a fun hangout for years. When I was a little kid we loved watching the cooks throw the pizza dough up in the air and then catch it.

When I was older I liked Shakey's as a change of pace to Pizza Hut. I could never get into that oily pan pizza and still miss the old thick & chewy style that Pizza Hut used to offer.I used to work at the Pearlridge Shakey's Pizza.

[Kalihiboy]

The Complete Kitchen at Ala Moana is now a memory....closed on 10/5.

Aj