Every Store Has a Story: Keauhou Store in Hōlualoa

By Margaret Kearns

Keauhou Store History

Yoshisuke Sasaki was born in Japan in 1885 and immigrated to Honolulu at age 15 to work in construction. He later moved to Kona, earning a living making coffins and building redwood water tanks for prominent immigrant families. In 1903, Yoshisuke also built the ornate concrete archway for the Tong Wo Tong cemetery next to the Keauhou Store and helped with the design and construction of the Daifukuji Soto Mission in Honalo, just about one mile south of the store on the Māmalahoa Highway.

In 1918, Yoshisuke, Kuma, and their young family, opened their Keauhou Store. The two original columns on the front lānai remain there today, as do many of the original features handmade by Yoshisuke nearly one hundred years ago.

In 1947, the old roof was removed and the upper mezzanine floor and art deco façade were added. Yoshisuke, as it turned out, was a successful businessman and a master carpenter as well. The entire building, including doors, windows, showcases and furniture were hand-built by the 5 feet 2 inch Yoshisuke.

The family also farmed and processed macadamia nuts and coffee, and Yoshisuke invented several milling machines over the years. The store became a central gathering place for the community, its large front lānai providing the perfect spot for community members to talk story.

Yoshisuke and Kuma’s middle son, Rikio (born in 1924 and best known as Ricky) took over operations at the Keauhou Store in the mid-1950s and almost immediately began selling the first Schwinn and Columbia bicycles in Kona. At the time, it was truly the region’s only department store, stocking everything from musical goods and instruments, records, appliances, stationery, radios and hardware, to jewelry, photographic supplies, sporting goods, sewing supplies, and groceries. At the time, the business also included a Chevron Service Station and records show the store pumped more gas than any other station in Kona.

With the extension of Hawai‘i Belt Road (Kuakini Highway) in 1967, traffic that formerly passed right by Keauhou Store was diverted, and new businesses began to grow in the fishing village of Kailua-Kona down on the coast. Māmalahoa Highway, the road that served travelers, salesmen, and citizens from the time it was just a footpath around Hawai‘i Island, and then a narrow horse and buggy road and, finally, a paved two-lane blacktop, was now nearly deserted.

Yoshisuke, who grew and prospered with his upcountry family store on this scenic highway, lived a long, creative life, and passed away in 1973 at the age of 88. Rikio continued to run the store, and in 1995 removed the gas pumps and tanks, rather than replace them as required by the EPA. Soon business slowed even further, and as the years passed, the store was only open a few hours each day.

Rikio never married, and passed away in 2009. With no children to inherit the store, it was passed on to his older brother Gilbert, who was age 88 at the time, and who resided on O‘ahu.

Neither Gilbert, nor other family members, wanted to take on the business, so it was put up for sale, which, is when Kurt and Thea Brown stepped in to keep the store and its history alive.

Restoring the Store

When Thea and Kurt, Kona residents for more than 30 years, decided to purchase and lovingly restore an old building in Keauhou mauka, little did they know the historic treasure trove they would uncover in the process. From its original 1918 construction, the Keauhou Store was owned and operated for decades by the Sasaki family. Located along the Kona Historic Corridor, the store is situated in the heart of the Kona coffee-growing district.

“We did see there was lots of ‘stuff’ everywhere, but we had no idea what it was,” Thea says. “Turns out that ‘what it was’ is now an incredible gift for the community and for us.”

The Browns purchased the property in January 2011 with the intent of restoring the upcountry landmark and opening it back up as a local convenience store, specializing in sustainably grown produce, Kona coffee, island-grown chocolates, preserves, and honey, along with fine wines, cold beers, and a myriad of other unique items produced on Hawai‘i Island, including Kurt’s handmade guitars and koa wood creations.

Today, a portion of the 4,000 square foot space is indeed used for that original purpose together with a mini-café and takeaway food establishment, while the remainder is dedicated to the display of culturally rich memorabilia from the early to mid-1900s. The artifacts, books, maps, and abundant remaining store inventory—many items from the 1940s and 1950s with price tags still attached—are now displayed in museum-like fashion throughout the ground level store and the second floor balcony. Among these original-store items: shoes, chenille bathrobes, hats, an old-time Schwinn bicycle, classic Coca-Cola signs, large-format Marlborough cigarette advertisements, Hawaiiana collectibles, and much, much more.

“Although the basic building was in remarkably good structural shape, there was still a massive amount of cleaning and painting that needed to be done when we purchased it. Amazingly, only one piece of front fascia needed to be replaced, along with the installation of a new roof. We also disassembled, repaired, glazed, and repainted 47 windows so they will last for the next 100 years,” Thea says.

The couple also cleaned and restored the family office located at the very the back of the store, and retained its original desk, chairs, safe, radio, and record books that go back two generations. “It provides a fascinating look back at an earlier time here on Hawai‘i Island,” Kurt says.

Part of the fun of operating the Keauhou Store today, according to Thea, is talking story with old-timers who were frequent customers of the original store.

“For example, a guy came in just a few days ago and told us he had grown up here in the 1940s, and that the very first pair of shoes he owned were purchased here by his parents back in the day. The clincher is he was 14 years old at the time and just about to start high school! It was the norm back then, he shared with us, for kids to run around barefoot throughout most of their childhood,” Thea says.

According to Kurt, the new Keauhou Store has evolved slowly and thoughtfully over the past few years. Growing inventory, he says, has been dictated by what our customers actually want and need, not necessarily what we want to provide. It’s a lesson learned early on in his retail career, he says, that has led to his success today.

One item they can never have enough of, he says, is Thea’s homemade cookies! “We’ve sold more than 50,000 in less than two-and-a-half years!” Thirteen different varieties of these mouthwatering treats are available at all times.

From only a few prepared takeaway foods, the offerings have now grown to a full lunch menu of hot and cold items including salads, sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers and more. (Insider scoop: the tuna and egg salad sandwiches on house-made brioche buns are a must-eat!). And now, customers have a choice of eating in or taking away. In late 2013, the couple was busy putting the final touches on an intimate, covered lānai area on the south side of the building to accommodate eat-in diners and to provide spectacular makai views.

“The most incredible part of the journey so far,” Thea says, “has been meeting with Sasaki family members who have kept their history alive and brought the store back to life through their stories.”

Although it was Ricky Sasaki, middle son of the original owners Yoshisuke and Kuma Sasaki who ran the store from the 1950s up until 2009 (when it was open for just a few hours a day), it is his older brother Gilbert—now in his early nineties—who really kept the family history alive, according to Thea.

“We learned all sorts of things about the family and about their store from Gilbert,” Thea says.

Feel free to stop by the Keauhou Store and explore the historical collection. ❖

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Keauhou Store: 78-7010 Māmalahoa Highway, Hōlualoa, 808.322.5203, KeauhouStore.com.

Photos courtesy of Paul Maddox: PaulMaddox.com.
Contact writer Margaret Kearns: margaretekearns@gmail.com.