Times will buy Fujioka's retail store at the Market City Shopping Center and its inventory in an attempt to boost the quality of Times' wine selection, Times president Roger Godfrey said today.

Godfrey and Lyle Fujioka, who have known each other for years, have been negotiating the deal for the last six months, Godfrey said. He declined to reveal the purchase price.

The deal would make Fujioka the new wine consultant for Times. Fujioka also will continue to run the Market City store, which will be renamed Fujioka's Wine Times. The handful of Fujioka's employees will now work for Times, Godfrey said.

Fujioka's wine bar next door will remain unchanged.

The operational details of bringing Fujioka's wine selections inside the Times markets have yet to be worked out.

They could include a presence for the Fujioka name. But Times has no plans to duplicate Foodland's and R. Field Wine Co.'s "store-within-a store" concept, Godfrey said.

Times became interested in Fujioka because "he's got a comprehensive selection of wines," Godfrey said. "He's got some quality wines at a competitive price, which is really how he's driven his business. His philosophy ties in with ours: offer a good price on a good product."

Asked to describe Times current wine selection, Godfrey said: "It can be improved. Let's just say that."

Times officials will begin inventorying Fujioka's merchandise on Sunday, but Godfrey is uncertain exactly when Fujioka's wines will appear in Times markets.

The renamed Fujioka's Wine Times "will essentially be the same," Godfrey said. "We'll clean it up a little bit, make some cosmetic changes. Very minor. It'll just be business as usual. Then we will have Lyle upgrade and update the wine in all of our stores."

The Fujioka family has been in business for three generations, running a Hale'iwa market. In 1990, Lyle Fujioka began focusing on wine sales, eventually opening a separate wine store at Market City Shopping Center.

Times Super Market was founded in 1949 and is Hawai'i's third largest supermarket retailer. It is owned by Quinn Supers, Inc., an affiliate of PAQ, Inc. of Stockton, Calif.