RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Francis Furusho, left, and his nephew Trent Toma work on restoring a table at Gilbert's Furniture & Piano Refinishing in Kalihi.
Furniture repair
business gets refurbished
Just behind Kalihi Super Meats off King Street and Gulick Avenue, a longtime family business that gives a new lease on life to damaged and elderly furniture has been enjoying its own renaissance of sorts.
Gilbert's Furniture & Piano Refinishing has been restoring furniture since the early 1950s. Its original owner, Gilbert Furusho, repaired and refinished furniture starting in the 1930s, then he began his own business in Kakaako in the 1950s. He moved to Kalihi in 1966, recalls son Francis Furusho, who took over from his father in 1971.
Although there's not too much call for repair and refinishing pianos now, Francis Furusho, now 63 and working part time, recalls it was a different story in his father's day.
"My father even went to New York with a recommendation from Steinway Piano here," Furusho said. "He worked in the factory in New York for awhile because he wanted to know if he was doing the right thing. He didn't stay long. He found he was doing the right thing techniquewise and came home."
Though Furusho and his wife Ruth had two girls and a boy -- all now grown and working in different professions -- none had any interest in continuing with the family business. But their nephew, Trent Toma, showed an interest in continuing on. Francis can now work part time and has passed on the business to Trent, who took over two years ago.
When Furusho first went to work for his father in 1959 -- a year after high school graduation and after a stint in the Army Reserves -- there was no formal training.
"You just learned on the job. I used to read books," he said.
He also learned from longtime employee Stephen Uesato, who was employed with the company for 30 years and now works part time. Like Furusho, he learned the business from his father, who had owned a Hawaiian furniture refinishing business.
At 71, Uesato has not lost his touch, according to Furusho.
"He can repair the frame and missing legs. He's skilled and he's fast. He can even do individual caning on a seat --and that's a big job. It can take eight hours, " Furusho said.
A Kalihi boy at heart, Furusho went to Farrington High School and has been involved in various neighborhood organizations and local politics all his life.
"They called me the Mayor of Kalihi," he said.
"I was born about 200 yards from here on Richard Lane, down by the river."
Furusho credits his wife, Ruth, now retired, with keeping the company going -- often in difficult times.
"My wife was the key to my success," Furusho said. "I'd just come in and work. She ran the office. She could run any corporation. I guess she was just born like that."
Furusho said the transition to Toma taking over the business has been smooth and he and his nephew work well together.
"We're a good combination," Furusho said. "I talk to the older customers and the younger ones bypass me and ask for Trent. I tell people I'm an antique myself."
These days, much of the work involves repair of furniture that has been damaged. A lot of the work comes from military customers who have had furniture damaged in transit. But there are still plenty of longtime customers.
Sometimes customers bring in furniture that is probably not worth repairing, Furusho said. But he said he has learned over the years never to question people's motives once he hears the words "sentimental value."
"A lot of times people will mention sentimental value," Furusho said. "After that, I don't say anything -- even if it costs a lot to fix. You know, it's their feelings."
Gilbert's Furniture will have perhaps its biggest challenge coming up in just a few months. The building owners have decided to redevelop the parcel of land occupied by the store and the business once again will have to find a new home.
"There's an April deadline," Furusho said. "They are going to develop a condo here."
Toma said he is not sure where they will move yet, but he is looking at different sites.
For now, though, business is good, both men say.
Competition also has changed from the old days. Many of the longtime repair companies have gone away. But in some ways, that's not a bad thing, Furusho said.
"The rest is all new guys -- mainland franchises," he said. "We get lots of calls to redo other people's work."
Both believe it's the attention to detail that keeps old customers coming back and helps to get the word out to new customers.
"It's that little extra effort to make it right," Toma said.
