Kosasa was model for all entrepreneurs

THE ISSUE Sidney S. Kosasa, founder of the Honolulu-based ABC Stores, died at home at age 86.

NO Hawaii businessman's life story can compare with that of Sidney S. Kosasa, who rose from World War II internment to eventually launch a chain of ABC Stores that have become an integral fixture of Waikiki. Active in the business through his final days, Kosasa died at his home this month at the age of 86.

Kosasa was born to first-generation Japanese immigrants and worked in his early years at their Palolo grocery store. Soon after receiving his pharmacist's degree at the University of California at Berkeley, he was sent to an internment camp in northern California, where he met his wife, Minnie.

Upon his release in 1943, Kosasa worked as a pharmacist in St. Louis and Honolulu. The couple opened a drugstore in Waikiki in 1949. He was inspired during a convention in Miami Beach, Fla., to open the first ABC store on Kalakaua Avenue as an all-purpose convenience store aimed at tourists. The chain now consists of 55 ABC Stores in Hawaii, eight in Guam and six in Las Vegas.

Kosasa referred to his employees as "associates" and created a profit-sharing plan to which the company contributes a significant share of its yearly earnings. He took pride through the years in never having to lay off a single associate. His employees can be proud of having been associated with such a person whose success can be to attributed to his respect and compassion.