By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Hawaiian Bagel founders Steve and Mona Gelson opened
their business in 1979 and have watched sales skyrocket
from $40 to $3,200 a day at the Kakaako store,
which closes tomorrow.

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Kakaako customers
to feel hole with
Hawaiian Bagel’s
closing shop

The popular deli is being
forced to leave its site of 20 years
due to an expiring lease

By Heather Tang
Star-Bulletin

TWENTY years ago, bagels were unknown to many Hawaii residents, says Steve Gelson, president of Hawaiian Bagel. In fact, he says, customers would often visit his new Kakaako deli and ask what a bagel was.

Much has changed since then.

For 20 years, the bagel shop has served countless baked goods and deli items to Hawaii patrons. But tomorrow will mark the end of an era for Hawaiian Bagel on Halekauwila Street near Cooke Street. Bagel enthusiasts will have to go elsewhere as the shop's lease expires Saturday. Building owner ABC Stores didn't renew the lease and plans to convert the site to warehouse space.

Gelson, 48, says he plans to relocate Hawaiian Bagel as soon he finds an acceptable Kakaako site with ample parking. Gelson and his wife, Mona, hope to reopen within six months to a year.

Meanwhile, customers may purchase the company's bagels at its Manoa Marketplace location or at any Zippy's restaurant. Service to wholesale customers will remain unchanged.

In preparation for the closing, the company has already moved much of its Kakaako staff to the Waipio baking facilities of its parent company, Zippy's Restaurants. All 32 company employees affected by the closing were offered positions within the company.

Gelson's business was sparked in 1979 by a $25,000 Small Business Administration loan and his father-in-law's love of bagels.

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Dorothy Pickett and Bert Goldberg, below, who met at
the Kakaako location 15 years ago, say they've made
many friends at the deli.

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Gelson, a New York native who was working as a group restaurant manager for Bloomingdale's, would often send gifts of bagels to his wife's family on Maui.

They liked them so much that his father-in-law, Donald Shishido, jokingly told Gelson to open a Hawaiian bagel store and avoid the trouble of mailing them. Not long afterward with the SBA loan and $15,000 from Shishido in hand, the Gelsons founded Hawaiian Bagel. "We bought all of the equipment used, put it together ourselves. We did everything on our own," said Steve Gelson.

Initial public response was positive but slow. "We were starving when we first opened, it was rough for the first 4 to 5 years," he said.

"Over the past 20 years, bagels have become an accepted food in Hawaii. Everybody comes in regardless of ethnicity to enjoy the bagels."

Since opening, retail sales at the Kakaako location have skyrocketed from $40 to $3,200 a day.

In its two-decade history, the company has weathered rough economic times.

During Kakaako redevelopment in the 1980s, deli sales dropped 60 percent when public access to the store was hindered. "It was a very critical time, pretty scary. But the day they took the road signs done, the customers came right back," he said.

The company now supplies its bagels, pastries, cakes, pies, and breads to retail delicatessens and wholesale clients statewide.

In December, the Gelsons sold the company, including the Kakaako and Manoa Marketplace locations, to Zippy's Restaurants but continue to run the operations.

Many customers have found a pleasant meeting place at the Kakaako deli. "People habitually sat at the same table everyday. Over the years, you can see them become friends. They enjoy breakfast with one another. It was a wonderful little bakery," said Steve Gelson.

New York native Bert Goldberg, 75, recalls seeking out the bagel shop 15 years ago hoping to find a piece of home at Hawaiian Bagel. He met Dorothy Pickett, 72, and many other friends there.

"It's just like a big family here," said Pickett, a 15-year Hawaii resident originally from Michigan. Goldberg and Pickett, now close friends of the Gelsons, have frequented Hawaiian Bagel since 1984.

"I'm going to miss being down there with all of the customers; they were my friends, too," Steve Gelson said.

"We've been to their home for dinner, they're such wonderful people," said Pickett.

Many customers eagerly await the re-opening of Gelson's next Kakaako Hawaiian Bagel.

"Bert would follow him anywhere, he'd follow him to the ends of the earth," Pickett said.