Selling wine a Statistics suggest passing a family business from one generation to the next is no easy feat. Only about a third make it to a second generation, 12 percent to a third, and only about 3 percent survive to the fourth generation and beyond, according to the Family Firm Institute in Boston.
Makiki ohana affair
A father-son transition
finds trials and triumphVERY GOOD YEARS
Stephanie Kendrick / skendrick@starbulletin.com
None of this surprises Jay and Allen Kam.
Allen, 73, founded Vintage Wine Cellar about 32 years ago. His son Jay, 33, is now president of the company.
"It's just about turned over completely," Allen said.
And the two are still friends, but it hasn't always been easy.
"I probably quit a couple of times, but the next day I still showed up for work," Jay said. "I know very few people who have passed on a business, and it's been an easy transition."
In fact, the wine industry worldwide is largely a family business, so they have had any number of tumultuous succession tales to take comfort in during their own transition.
"You've got to understand we don't do things the same way, though we have the same objectives," Allen said of changes Jay wanted to make in the business.
The switch to a computerized system, for example, was difficult for Allen, who describes himself as computer illiterate.
And Jay has had to establish more business-like relationships with suppliers who, over many years, had become close friends of his father. Those ties can be hard to adjust, he said. "You have to make some tough decisions."
Store manager Dorothy Morris, who's worked for the business for 20 years, thinks he's doing a good job.
"I was stacking cases as soon as I could lift 40 pounds," said Jay. "Dorothy used to order me around."
"Now he tells me what to do," she said. "He reminds me so much of Mr. Kam, he's been wonderful."
She admitted there has been some tension, but never for long.
"They get over it quickly. They don't hold grudges," she said.
"We still have meals together, we still drink wine together," said Allen.
Although Jay grew up in the business, it was never a given in his mind that he would take over.
"I couldn't imagine selling something I didn't like," said Jay, who was a beer and mixed-drinks fan in college.
But about the time his opinion of wine started to change, his father had a kidney transplant. So Jay moved home in 1991 to help out.
A new appreciation for both the grape and the business began to form.
Jay admits to being nervous at first about stepping into his dad's shoes. The elder Kam is widely credited as a pioneer in the local gourmet wine industry.
In fact, he started the business because no one else was selling fine wines in Hawaii.
"I used to drink wine and couldn't find any in the islands," he said. So he shipped wine in for himself, but friends started asking him to bring wine in for them. "I was spending so much time doing this that I decided to go into business," he said.
From the beginning, Allen has focused on quality wines well-handled.
It's a legacy Jay intends to continue.
He hasn't yet crafted a plan for making his own mark on the business, but isn't sure bigger is the way to go.
After establishing the original outlet in Makiki Shopping Village, Allen expanded to nine locations, but difficulty maintaining quality standards compelled him to pull back to the single store.
The Makiki property was developed in the early 1900s by Allen's father, Wah Fon Kam.
Allen helped his dad build the original Makiki Village Market, a wooden structure that was across the parking lot from its current space.
Jay's sister, Karla Kam Tennant, runs the market today and his mother, Cora, keeps the books for the family business.
Another sister, Kelly Kam Herz, is a teacher in San Jose, Calif.
Jay, who is planning to be married in September, said he would like to have children and see the business passed to the next generation.
But he's learned a few things.
"If you don't want to be doing this, there's no point in passing it down," said Jay. "It's going to take work and patience.
"It's whether you have the maturity on the younger side and the understanding on the older side to accommodate it."