KEN SAKAMOTO / KSAKAMOTO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Clayton Chang, center, owner of Doe Fang in Aina Haina Shopping Center,
with his daughter, Chantel, and son, Clinton, serving customers.

Uncle Clay
fulfilled his own
Icee dream

The local store owner is
favored for his kindness
and concoctions

NEIGHBORHOOD MAGNET

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Rosemarie Bernardo / rbernardo@starbulletin.com

MANY PATRONS compliment Clayton Chang on his exotic Icee creations, but he says his children are his true masterpiece.

"My children are my universe," said Chang, who shares most of his spare time eating, exercising and talking with his two children: Clinton, 20, and Chantel, 17.

Clinton said, "He's my inspiration, my teacher and one of my best friends."

As a child, Clayton Chang regularly shopped at Doe Fang -- a mom-and-pop crack seed store at Aina Haina Shopping Center -- while he attended Aina Haina School.

"I would buy red cuttlefish for a nickel," he said.

Growing up in Aina Haina, his hope was to one day own the store. But it did not come easily. It took 40 years.

DOE FANG >> Where: Aina Haina Shopping Center >> Most popular Icee creation: Li Hing Delite: Li hing mui powder atop slush with li hing mui seed.

Chang, 53, gained custody of Clinton and Chantel after he divorced his wife in 1992.

A year later, Won Bok Lee, third owner of Doe Fang's, offered to sell the store to Chang, then a real estate broker. But he declined.

"The time wasn't right," said Chang, who went through personal and financial challenges after his divorce. "After I turned it down, it was on my mind."

A second chance came in 1996 when Lee gave Chang another opportunity to acquire Doe Fang. This time, Chang accepted.

"It's been a journey," he said.

Clinton graduated from Punahou in 1999 and attends the University of Southern California. He helps his father at the store every summer. Chantel is now a senior at Punahou and helps her father at least four times a week.

Chantel said, "He's like my psychologist ... he's always there for me to talk to."

Customers said they go to the store not only for the Icees but to chat with Chang, known among his regular patrons as "Uncle Clay."

KEN SAKAMOTO / KSAKAMOTO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Clayton Chang is holding his famous Icee with li hing mui powder. His
daughter Chantel helps him at the store at least four times a week
and his son Clinton works there every summer.

"He tries to get to know everybody on a personal basis," said Clinton. After school, a line of children string from the front to the back of the store. He knows each child by name, he said.

Ten-year-old Mari Yoshikawa, a fifth-grader at Lunalilo School, stopped by one afternoon to get a Li Hing Delite.

"No other place can make this many Icees," said Yoshikawa, who has been going to the store since she was 5 years old.

The store's aisles are filled with figurines of maneki neko (good luck cats) and ceramic Chinese vases.

But it is the Icees, such as favorites Li Hing Delite and Strawberry Dream, that have attracted customers, young and old, in increasing numbers from all over Oahu.

Kuliouou resident Helene Fergerstrom, 48, has been a regular customer since she was a child. Now, Fergerstrom's three children and 7-year-old granddaughter enjoy their visits to the store.

"He really, truly has a sincere care for kids," said Fergerstrom. "He just extends himself farther than most people do."