Hardware Hawaii’s
Lundquist dies at 83

OBITUARIES

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

He was the hard-working son of Swedish immigrants whose old-fashioned values were the hallmark of his success.

R. Dana Lundquist, founder of Hardware Hawaii and 1999 Retailer of the Year, passed away Wednesday in Honolulu after a brief illness. He was 83.

"He was a person of integrity who cared about people," said son Barry Lundquist, chief executive officer of the Kailua business.

The senior Lundquist grew up humbly in Minnesota, worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression and opened his first hardware store -- Lyndale Hardware -- in Minnesota in 1941.

After visiting Hawaii in 1951, a boyhood dream, he sold Lyndale Hardware and moved to Hawaii where he worked for Lewers & Cooke. He opened Hardware Hawaii in Kailua in 1954, operating out of the Kailua Shopping Center until moving to the store's current location on Kihapai Street in 1990.

Despite Hawaii's sluggish economy, sales were up 24 percent last year, the best results in the company's 45-year history.

Lundquist's heavy emphasis on customer service flew in the face of a trend toward self-serve in the retail industry. But despite the higher cost of putting more employees on the floor, the store flourished.

In a decade marked by business failures and layoffs, Hardware Hawaii went from $8 million in annual sales in 1990 to $23 million, Barry Lundquist said. The company increased its staff from 80 to 207 in the same period.

"We were one of the few companies that just kept moving right ahead, right through the downturn," he said.

The elder Lundquist learned about customer service while working at a cold Minnesota service station.

"They had a rule that when a car pulled off the highway they would run to meet it, wiping windows, filling tires and checking under the hood," Barry said. "He took that philosophy into the retail business."

Lundquist exhorted his staff in monthly newsletters to take joy in helping customers, and not to oversell products.

"He'd say, 'Don't sell the whole guts of a toilet if a 20-cent washer is all that's needed,' " his son said.

Hardware Hawaii and Lundquist have won numerous awards in recent years, including Outstanding Small Business in the State of Hawaii; Oahu Retailer of the Year; and Entrepreneur of the Year.

A straight-faced Swede who hid a mischievous sense of humor, Lundquist played numerous musical instruments, conducted choirs, and wrote music, poetry and short stories.

Two years ago, he put an envelope on his desk with instructions to open it after his death.

"It was a beautiful love letter to my mother," said Barry. "Every time we read it, we cry."

Lundquist is survived by his wife, Mary; sons Dana, Barry and David; sister Lillian Knafla; 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Services will be held Wednesday at St. John Lutheran Church, 1004 Kailua Road. Visitation is at 5:30 p.m. with services at 6:30 p.m., to be followed by private burial.