As rags-to-riches tales go, few are as impressive as the corporate history of Servco Pacific Inc. [ REVVING UP SERVICE ]
Servco grew, focusing
on diversificationPeter Fukunaga's 2-car repair garage
is now a $400-million-a-year sales conglomerateBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comThe publicity shy company, one of Hawaii's largest, traces its roots to a two-car repair garage that company founder Peter Fukunaga acquired in 1919 after placing a $25 downpayment.
From that humble start 83 years ago, Servco has grown into $400 million in annual sales conglomerate that employs more than 900 people in offices throughout Hawaii, Guam, Saipan and California.
Its products range from the Toyota, Lexus, and Chevrolet autos that hug Hawaii's roads to the General Electric, RCA and Sanyo appliances and electronics in thousands of island households.
Through it all, Servco capitalized on Fukunaga's commitment to economic diversification.
After establishing his service garage in the 1920s, Servco, then called the Waialua Garage Co., began selling automobiles from his Haleiwa repair shop and before long, the company would become one of the first General Motors Co. dealers in the state.
In 1958, Servco would become the exclusive distributor for Japan-based Toyota Motor Co., in a deal that would anticipate the tremendous popularity of Japanese cars among American drivers.
Today, Servco -- which continues to serve as Toyota's exclusive dealer in Hawaii -- is the state's largest auto retailer and one of the nation's top 100 car dealerships with annual revenues of about $341 million on sales of more than 10,000 vehicles, according to industry estimates.
The company also diversified into the home appliance business in early 1930s as it coped with the Great Depression. The company began selling Easy Spin-Dry Washing Machines out of a small retail outlet on Hotel and Bethel streets and would later become the local wholesalers for brands such as Frigidaire, Zenith, General Electric and Sanyo.
The company also established Service Finance Ltd. to provide financing for its appliance customers as well as for businesses.
After Peter Fukunaga died in 1960, George Fukunaga carried on his father's philosophy of growth by diversification.
In 1968, Servco acquired the 126,000-square-foot Gibson's Discount Department Store in Mapunapuna. The Gibson's store, which closed during the early 1990s, is now the site of Servco's Toyota dealership and service center.
In 1979, Servco's retail division acquired an interest in Holiday Merchandisers which operated eight Holiday Mart Stores on Oahu.
The Holiday Mart chain was later acquired by Japan-based Daiei Inc.
Under George Fukunaga's leadership, Servco also began to diversify outside of Hawaii. While many of Hawaii's big companies such as Castle & Cooke Inc. and Amfac Inc. invested on the U.S. mainland and later struggled in those markets, Servco looked to smaller communities in the Pacific Rim such as Guam and Saipan.
In 1975, the company opened a Gibson's store on Guam and in the following year it acquired one of Guam's largest car dealerships.
It followed a similar strategy in Saipan and the Marshall Islands where it acquired auto dealerships.
George Fukunaga, who died in 1993, would see his Pacific Rim strategy emulated by many of its local competitors such as Liberty House and Kmart, and other local car dealers.
For them, it's strategy that would pay dividends for the companies during the 1990s and beyond when Hawaii's economy began to head south.
