Big & Small Business Memories - Chapter 2

[hawaiian_pride]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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.

[admin]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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" thread, we'll just move and rename it to continue the conversation.

[Creative-1]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

[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]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

When Holiday Mart WAS Holiday Mart

Then it became...



To now what is...



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]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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]

Re: Big & Small Business Memories - Chapter 2

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]

Re: Big & Small Business Memories - Chapter 2

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]

Re: remembering hawaii the gold ole days.

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]

Re: Big & Small Business Memories - Chapter 2

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]

Re: Big & Small Business Memories - Chapter 2

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]

7-Eleven Waialae

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 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.




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