Posted on: Friday, June 21, 2002
Nostalgia colors 'pink palace' shop in Mo'ili'ili
The top bell tower of the "Royal Hawaiian Hotel" recently blew off in strong winds and landed in the parking lot below — in Mo'ili'ili.
Huh? If you think that's confusing, consider passers-by seeing a tiny re-creation of the venerable pink Waikiki hotel next to Mo'ili'ili's Hula Supply Center. They wander in all the time to ask if it's a restaurant.
"Or Spanish church," jokes co-owner Syl Kop.
It's neither, but is a loving remembrance of the store's founder and owner for almost a half-century, the late Bung Kwai Kop. Kop was also a member of the famed Kop Golf Family: from older brother Guinea, to Brandon, to recent marvel and Kop 'Ohana member Regan Lee.
Kop's son, Mike, 52, remembers tagging along with dad at age 4 as the Hawaiian trinket salesman peddled his wares under the name "Hawaiian Traders" — from lauhala hats to kitschy cribbage boards in the shape of pineapples.
Of Father Kop's popular trademark Princess Dolls, each in the color of her respective island, "We'd pick up the head from one person, the hair from another, dress another," he said.
"Barbie dolls in the '60s put an end to that," said Syl, Mike's wife.
Finally, Hawaiian Traders opened permanent quarters next to Mo'ili'ili Field in the 1950s as Hula Supply Center, destined to become the largest retailer of Polynesian dance instruments and apparel.
For Mike, filling his father's shoes in the family hula business wasn't his cup of kava.
"It was never discussed," he said. Except the day, on his father's way out the door, Dad threw out the invitation: "Eh, like work for me?"
"Sure," replied Mike, then 23. The die was cast.
When the property next door opened up in 1999, offering much-needed parking, Syl, the one with the fashion-design bent, put her foot down: "We're not (taking on more rent) unless we do something nice and a tribute to your Dad." She had just breathed new life into the old Hawaiian Traders name.
But before they could act, they learned that someone else registered the business name. On a whim, months later, they checked again: The license on the name had expired. It was the family's again.
The genius of designers Takeo, Eric Chandler and Mike Crabbe soon mingled with Syl's own, and the idea was born: "We'd re-create the Royal Hawaiian Hotel!"
"We're pink people," Syl said. "We had a pink wedding. The guests wore pink. We had pink ice cream."
"And pink sandwiches," Mike added.
"We know pink sells," Syl said. "If (Henry) Kaiser could do it," she said of the developer's penchant for pink, "so can we!"
"Oh, she's gonna build a pink building," Mike groused, feigning displeasure.
The pair called on entertainer Leon Siu for memories from his Royal Hawaiian gigs, and soon the hotel's characteristic roof-top planters, Moorish architectural accents — even the tiptop bell tower — began to take shape on paper.
A portrait of grand old Father Kop oversees this loving tribute, surveying a handcrafted collection of gifts, collectibles, antiques and apparel, just as he did in his day. His original hula supply shop remains next door.
And coming soon: the legendary Princess Dolls, which once sold for a few bucks but now fetch hundreds of dollars as collectors' items.
This creative process has already taken four years of design and redesign, Syl said. "'Pop' had to have a pretty face," on the dolls, said his daughter-in-law.
Now, many people who pass the site, just diamondhead of the Old Honolulu Stadium, marvel.
"I've passed this place for 25 years," said one. "But I've never had reason to come in" until the mini-Royal Hawaiian Hotel sprang up.
The Kops even give directions to their store based on the new landmark: "Yeah, right after the 'pink palace.' "
But not everything is "in the pink." Recent winds got the best of the foam-sculpted, Moorish roof-top bell tower. It'll be back in a few months, promised Mike. And, yes, in pink.
And, truth be told, the store actually isn't "Royal Hawaiian Pink," Syl said. "The hotel is more salmon."
Artists!
