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WELCOME TO OUR WEBSITE
HISTORY OF HANZAWA'S
During WWII, Taichiro and Tetsuji were interned in New Mexico. Though the family elders were away, Hanzawa's was a primary attraction for the thousands of Marines stationed at the 4th Marine camp. The family was glad to provide laundry and grocery service to the young men, charging 25 cents to launder and iron a shirt, 10 cents for socks.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the store remained in service to the local community when pineapple cultivation was the primary employer for area residents. As other countries started producing pineapple, the local pineapple industry began to fluctuate. Many in the community fell into hard times and the store extended personal credit for sometimes up to a year in order to feed the area’s families.
A fire claimed the original store building in 1974. That structure was replaced by the store that exists today. Upcountry Haiku has experienced tremendous growth over the years and Hanzawa's has tried to keep pace with the need.
After returning from duty in the army, Tetsuji's son Ralph, along with his siblings and other family members operated the business from the late 1940's on. In 1988, Ralph's niece, Sandy Daniells, moved back to Maui to take over managing the business. Sandy says:
"For three generations, my family has served
the community that lives around Kaupakalua road in upper Haiku. Our store,
Hanzawa's, is one of a dying breed of little mom and pop stores that a
generation ago could be found throughout Maui. When we hear of another
mom & pop store closing, we are sad, but we understand."
Running a small operation like ours, in this age of stiff competition from price wars of big box stores is quite a challenge. But my husband Matt and I are determined to hold on because our customers tell us they depend on us, that our store provides them with more than food or gas, that it helps give our neighborhood a sense of place and a sense of community.
We are amazed by the mix of people who come through our doors. Cattle roping cowboys ride up on their horses. Media gurus from around the world come to buy our veggies. A mini melting-pot of people, ideas and ways of life seems to collect under our roof. We are their store and they our community and we would not have it any other way.
It would be wonderful if everything could stay just the way it was, but that never happens. Change is inevitable. The store that is here today was not built by my grandfather, it evolved from a small old building that delivered your groceries to your home from the store that sits here today after being rebuilt in 1974. Change will happen. We can either plan for it, grow stronger and survive, or eventually fade away. With the help of our loyal customers and wonderful staff, we are planning on surviving. We ask for your support and blessing for our endeavors."
PRESENT
Today, Hanzawa Store serves a large area along Kaupakalua and Awalau Roads as well as upper East and West Kuiaha. Our store is known for carrying an wide variety of goods. This stems from the long tradition of the store, as well as trying to accommodate local requests for particular items. In addition to gasoline and everyday food and household items, the store carries:
- Produce (locally-grown and imported)
- Fresh fish
- Maui beef
- A variety of organic and natural foods
- Deli items (from the store's small deli)
- Hot dogs and freshly made sandwiches
- Locally-made baked goods
- Wines and beer (domestic, imported, and organic)
- A line of clothing that includes the original 501 Levis jeans
- Household goods
- A small selection of hardware and camping supplies
- Various livestock feeds
- Made In Maui lotions and soaps, greeting cards, fresh flowers and leis
FUTURE: WHAT WE WANT TO DO, WHY WE NEED TO RE-ZONE
Currently, the store is zoned Agriculture and Interim, districts that do not allow businesses. This means if a fire or hurricane destroys the store, it could not be rebuilt. It is at risk of being lost! It’s a different time now than in 1974, it would take more than a year to reestablish the store and it would lose its grandfathered status.
We have run out of room and cannot keep up with the demand. Haiku has grown over 300% since 1990, and while there are more people, there are no new stores. This means you must drive far for many basic needs.
While demand is high, it is getting even harder to keep a mom-and-pop store open. We have to compete with “Big Box” and national chain stores that are now on Maui. We need to make improvements to our property (as we have always done), and expand so we can stay in business and serve you better.
To protect the store and be able to expand, we need to rezone the property. The current community plan shows the property as “Business/Commercial” meaning that we will re-zone to “Business Country Town.”
Once the store is protected, we would like to offer more retail space. We want to offer some small, locally-based businesses that our growing community would benefit from.
With that in mind, we would like to add three small, new buildings from 875 to 1,400 square feet in size (total 3,475 sq ft). These have to be designed according to County guidelines so they will fit in with the country town feel of the area.
What about the rural area? Only part of the property would be zoned commercial, the rest is to be zoned Conditional Rural. Again, this is to conform to the community plan and to get rid of the Interim zoning. We have proposed a condition to the County that we would only be able to subdivide into two lots and no more. These lots would be just about one-acre each, and would permit one house and one ohana. That’s much better than the Interim where the code allows one house per 6,000 square feet.
Please take a look at the other pages of this website for more details. We also have a section for comments, would love to have your support!
