DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Iida's is closing its doors at Ala Moana Center after being one of the original tenants of the shopping center since it opened in 1959. Here, Amy Murai, who has been working there since 1959, owner Robert Iida, Stacie Hata and Jaci Gyotoku work behind the counter.

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Iida’s closing its doors

Economic hardships force the
Japanese specialty store to
shut down after 105 years

The great Chinatown fire at the turn of century, two world wars and a changing Hawaii economy: During its 105 years in business, Iida's has survived them all to supply the islands with Japanese chinaware, specialty items and trinkets.

But the family-run store has not been able to weather the dwindling of its largest customer base: nisei who carry on Japanese traditions. And on June 30, after nearly a decade of struggling to make a profit at the Ala Moana Center, the store will close with little fanfare.

"We all wanted to run the business more, but the reality -- the economic reality -- is for us to take action and close," said Robert Iida, the store's owner since 1995. "Maybe tastes have changed. I think so."

Since word of the store's closing reached the streets, loyal customers and occasional shoppers alike have flocked to Iida's for a last token from the store and to take advantage of close-out sales. A line to the checkout counter snaked through the crowded shop Saturday as people snatched up paper lanterns, prints, statues, teapots, dishes, masks, fans and more -- all marked 25 to 50 percent off.

Outside the store, prices on boxes filled with smaller items -- everything from toys to key chains to rice bowls -- had been slashed and slashed again as Iida's tried to get rid of its inventory.

"It's really sad to see the store close down," said shopper Bobbie Ito, adding that she has been coming to Iida's since she was a child and always thought its best feature was that it never changed.

But that, Iida said, was also part of its downfall.

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STAR-BULLETIN /1996 Robert Iida carts 150 coffee cups out of the store to a customer's parked car in 1996.

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Over the years, he said, the store, which originally catered to Japanese plantation immigrants who wanted goods from their home country, has tried to bring in items for tourists and younger people.

The bulk of its inventory, though, has remained little changed from when Iida's grandfather, founder Suisan Matsukichi Iida, opened it on Maunakea Street in 1900.

That year, just months after opening, the store was destroyed in a massive Chinatown fire.

But the family was not discouraged, and moved Iida's to the corner of Beretania and Nuuanu streets, where Kukui Plaza is now located.

Iida's father, Koichi, assumed ownership of the store in 1920.

When he was placed in an internment camp during World War II, Robert Iida's brother-in-law, Tsuyoshi Nishimoto, took over and ran it until his death in 1994.

Nishimoto is credited with expanding the shop and growing its profitability.

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STAR-BULLETIN /2001 Brian Chung of Hawaii Matsuri Taiko performs for the blessing of Iida's new location at Ala Moana in 2001.

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In the late 1950s, when he heard that a new shopping plaza was to be built in Ala Moana, he put in a bid for space. When Ala Moana Center opened in 1959, Iida's was there on a well-frequented corner near Foodland.

Iida's stayed at that spot until 2000, when they were forced to move or face a higher monthly rent. Their current location, near a hairstylist and a teen clothing store, is only a few hundred feet away.

But it might as well have been on the moon.

"It's a dead end," said 81-year-old Amy Murai, who has worked at Iida's since it opened at Ala Moana and blames the store's closure on the move. "There's nothing."

Longtime customers could not find the new location, she said, and foot traffic was much lighter, so fewer people stop in to browse.

But, Iida said, the problems started even before the relocation. As far back as 1997, Iida's was struggling to make a profit and to get inventory off shelves.

Finally, Iida said, "we had to face reality, and that's the hardest."

The store has 16 employees, three of whom are "old-timers" like Murai. The closure has hit them hard, but Murai also said it was not unexpected.

"We all knew it already, but I had to wait for him (Iida) to say it," said Murai, who works four days a week at the store.

"The cookie gotta crumble sometime," she added, sighing. "Poor boss, I feel sorry for him."

She said she plans to retire and spend her extra time tending to her yard and, perhaps, traveling. She will miss Iida's, which she started working at when she was 38.

"It's closed forever," she said, "and that's the way it is."

Outside Iida's Saturday, Roger Davis and his wife looked through stacks of dishes and reminisced about the 30 years they had been coming to the store. "We thought if we only had one more chance at it," Davis said, "we'd better come."

Nearby, William Maielua was leaving the store in a hurry. He had not bought anything, but had fulfilled his desire to see the place one last time.

"It's just another cultural thing gone," he said quickly, and then walked off.