Servco Pacific selling school-supply division

Servco Pacific Inc. yesterday announced it is selling off part of Education Works, its school supply business.

Education Works will keep its furniture supply business, renaming it Servco School and Office Furniture, and sell the educational supply side of the business.

Custom Company Inc., a provider of school uniforms in Hawaii, will acquire the business for an undisclosed price.

Custom will take over the 5,000-square-foot Education Works store at Dole Cannery, and plans to hire about 13 of the former Servco employees in that division.

The remaining employees, about four, will be transferred to the furniture division.

The deal is expected to close in April.

Milton Ebesu, owner of the 14-year-old Custom Company, said the acquisition will allow him to better serve existing customers in Hawaii, California, Guam and Japan. Education Works will bring him roughly 4,000 customers, he said.

"It's a great fit," said Craig Washofsky, Servco's group vice president. "Milton has relationships with the schools, and it's a win-win because we have someone who understands the needs of the education business in Hawaii."

Mark Fukunaga, chief executive officer of Servco, said the sale is part of Servco's continuing effort to concentrate on its core operations in the automotive, insurance and home products businesses.

In the fall of 2005, Servco Pacific also sold off the assets of Easy Music Center to Peter Dods, son of retired First Hawaiian Bank CEO Walter Dods.