Shirokiya filled kitsch market on Maui

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sure, all us guys on O'ahu can sleep well at night, but on Maui, it's a different story. They're hurting on the Valley Isle.

Shirokiya is staying at Ala Moana. Shirokiya is closing in Kahului.

If you know Maui, you know that's a huge loss.

Shirokiya was the place to go for everything from melon-flavored gum that you could buy with a few coins to the latest digital/laser/surround sound electronic equipment you had to mortgage your house to afford.

It was a part of the Maui lifestyle. Going to the beach? Stop by Shirokiya for bento. Going on a trip? Stop by Shirokiya for omiyage. Going to a party? Stop by Shirokiya for the perfect gift (everyone can use some of those little ceramic bowls with the plastic lids or those pretty coffee push-pots with the flower design on the side).

Us Maui expatriates make it the first stop after we land in Kahului and the last stop before we leave for the airport. Where we going go now?! (Maybe Ooka's or Takamiya's can open a booth in the airport? Please?)

For the most part, Maui people have it all figured out. Here's the plan: Liberty House can take up the slack in the Shiseido department, Longs has a good deal of that rice cooker action, and the okazuya up and down Lower Main Street can fill the katsu bento void. But the question remains: Where will Maui go for the cutesy pencils and fragrant erasers?

Wailuku mom Luly Unemori had to break the sad news to her two little girls. They were going to have to say goodbye to Hello Kitty.

"We read it in the paper on Friday and went straight down there Saturday morning," says Unemori, who, like her daughters, has a fondness for those darling pencil cases and girlie accessories. "I cannot even remember Maui without Shirokiya."

The truth is, it's not just little girls worrying about losing the sparkly pencil connection. Grown-up women on Maui are coming out of the scented-ink and cartoon-character keychain closet to talk about the fear they face in losing their fix.

Lots of us thirty-somethings and younger grew up with this stuff jammed into our school bags. Now as adults, there's a secret rush in writing a check for the water bill in purple grape-smelling ink or tucking your business cards into a pink puffy plastic wallet.

County Council staff member Amanda Martin puts it this way:

"I thought I was the only one. Try look at my purse. So shame. I still carry the little pencils with the bears on top. But I look around at all the other women in their offices, and they get, too. Where we gonna go now?!"

Sure, Shirokiya Ala Moana is staying open, but if you live in Pukalani, that's a long way to go for a sweet-smelling eraser.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. She can be reached at lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.