DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM At the end of the day, the Honolulu Broom Factory's production floor is cleaned with -- what else -- a Honolulu Broom Factory broom. Pei Xia Liu swept the floor last week at the end of her shift at the King Street factory.

Honolulu Broom Factory
is bound to tradition

---

By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.com

The story of a Honolulu business run by three generations of the same family over eight decades could be described as a sweeping saga, particularly as the name of the company in question is the Honolulu Broom Factory.

Current proprietor Brian Lum hears all the jokes, especially around Halloween.

"It's hard to avoid when you make brooms," he said.

But puns aside, the story of the Honolulu Broom Factory has all the elements of the classic immigrant tale of success.

Lum's grandfather, Wah Hin Lum, arrived in Hawaii from China at the turn of the last century to join his father.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Sze Kee Yeung, master broom maker, worked with a broom winder last week to attach the broom corn and grass to the handle. Yeung, 77, has been making brooms at the Honolulu Broom Factory since 1964

Then a young boy, he learned quickly that to avoid the taunting of neighborhood kids he would have to learn English and cut the pigtail he wore on the back of his head.

He worked hard and developed a close friendship with the owner of a clothing store, where he went to work at age 16. The man became his mentor, teaching him how to run a business and also about the value of offering high quality products to his customers.

The young man took those lessons to heart when he opened his own business in 1923. Honolulu Broom Factory prospered and was eventually passed on to his son, who died in 1993, and later his grandson, Brian Lum.

While a serious discussion of what makes a good broom might seem less than riveting, watching the brooms being made while Lum describes what goes in to their manufacture makes it clear there is both art and science to producing the perfect broom.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM 1. BINDING: Sze Kee Yeung, a master broom maker, uses a winder to attach broom corn and grass to the handle, which is made from Indonesian ramin wood.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM 2. STITCHING: Gui Ping Zheng uses a stitcher to form the corn and grass into the familiar flattened broom shape. Five lines of stitches are used to provide the right combination of rigidity and flexibility.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM 3. TRIMMING: Pei Xua Liu manually trims and bundles the finished brooms, getting them ready for delivery.

Lum and his three long-time employees produce about 2,000 brooms a month at their King Street factory. They are sold to retailers like Longs Drug Stores and City Mill, as well as a variety of industrial and institutional clients. While the company assembles mops as well, the brooms are its core business.

Claire Calimlim, housewares buyer for City Mill, said her company has been carrying Lum's brooms for as long as she can remember. They are a favorite with customers, she said.

"The customers say we like the 'hula' broom," she said referring to the company's hula girl logo, which was created in 1935.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Brian Lum, president and CEO of Honolulu Broom Factory, is the third generation to run the family business.

"They are actually very sturdy, the corn broom picks up dust and the fiber adds strength, that's what our customers want. We also don't have complaints about the handle breaking," she said. The company also carries Lum's larger mill broom for commercial customers.

As in other industries, fads have come and gone in the broom business and competition is never far away, Lum said.

"At one time, I used to think the hoki and vacuum cleaners would put me out of business," he said. There was the invasion of brooms made of synthetic materials.

And with the passage of NAFTA, which eliminated trade restrictions with Canada and Mexico, many broom makers either moved to Mexico or began buying directly from there.

Initially it looked like the company would loose a lot of business, but customers, complaining about a lack of quality, came back.

While brooms come in all shapes and sizes and can be made to order, Lum's most popular brooms are made of a combination of Mexican broom corn and yucca fiber, which is added for stiffness.

The combination works well, he said.

In his grandfather's day, brooms were entirely made of broom corn. The new combination is probably the only major change to the basic broom since, Lum said.

A good broom handle is also important. Lum imports a light yellow wood called ramin from Indonesia for his handles.

While brooms from the Honolulu Broom Factory contain the same basic ingredients as their competition, it is the way the broom is put together that makes the difference, Lum said.

Choosing just the right amount of the two types of straw to attach to the handle is where experience comes in. "With practice, you know how much to grab," he said.

When the straw is fastened together and attached to the handle it takes on the appearance of the classic "witch's broom."

The broom is then passed into a machine where 5 rows of green and red stitches are sewn on to give the broom shape. In the final stage of production, the ends of the straw are trimmed.

The company's most popular household brooms retail for around $8.99. But sale prices can drop to as low as $4.99.

In spite of increasing production costs, Lum said he has rarely raised prices. He found that when he did so, even a small amount, he was confronted with a flood of cheaper imports anxious to corner the market. So Lum just concentrates on quality, something his father and grandfather always demanded.

"In Hawaii, there are just some things you need a good broom for," he said.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Finished brooms, ready to be labeled and shipped out from the Honolulu Broom Factory.