Wailuku loses its
last family grocery

WAILUKU » The family-owned Ooka Super Market Ltd., the only supermarket in Wailuku town, closed yesterday.

Jay Arakaki: The closing of the market is like a family death, says its manager

"It's like a death in the family," store operations manager Jay Arakaki said. "We're all part of a family here."

The store had initially planned to close this Thursday, but a 50-percent-off sale whittled the inventory to virtually nothing, prompting the early closure.

For many residents, shopping at Ooka for affordable produce and canned goods was a part of their routine.

Wailuku resident June Kanada said she visited the store to pick up a few grocery items as part of her daily exercise since retirement.

"It's been so ideal for me," Kanada said.

Customer Ronald Masuda said his family would miss the low prices for canned goods, beer and flowers.

The store also prepared Hawaiian and Asian food daily, including laulau and ahi poke.

The late Hideo and Barbara Ooka founded the store in 1958 after relocating the family business from a rented space in the former Kahului Market.

Their son Byron Ooka, the store president, said the decision to close the store was based on wanting to move the family business in a different direction.

The family is developing a four-story, 62-unit senior independent-living apartment complex on a former store parking lot, and has sold the store property to the Community Clinic of Maui.

Ooka, 42, who started as a bag boy at the family store at age 14, said he would not miss getting up at 4 a.m. to get to work, but would miss the customers and 85 employees.

"We always tried to cater to the locals. We really appreciated their support through the years as well as our employees," he said.