After 105 years, Iida's will 'just fade away'

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Iida's and its store full of Japanese goods survived the bubonic plague at the turn of the century, a subsequent Chinatown fire that burned down its original building, World War II internment of the company's president, and three generations of family ownership, but it will close June 26 because of dwindling sales.

Jennifer Fujimori and her 7-year-old daughter, Jacie Fujimori-Moniz, yesterday stopped by Iida's, a store her family has long patronized. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

"No party," company president Robert Iida, 72, said yesterday. "We'll just fade away."

His brother Richard, 74, the store's assistant manager, was a bit more sentimental.

"Emotionally, we feel kind of at a loss for words," Richard said. "It's hard to describe how we actually feel. It's very sad we're leaving like this and to leave the public who supported us. People keep saying, 'Please don't leave us.' But it's inevitable."

Iida's was one of the original tenants when Ala Moana Center opened in 1959, the same year that Hawai'i gained statehood. But the store never recovered from its last move four years ago — just 250 feet away from its more well-known, corner location.

Rising rent forced Iida's into a 1,800-square-foot spot that was 500 square feet smaller and closer to the center of the mall.

"No more business," said Amy Murai, 80, who has worked for Iida's for 41 years and seen Iida family weddings, funerals and births. "It's been terrible. This place is a dead end."

Jennifer Fujimori, a 29-year-old driver for TheBus, stood outside the store yesterday trying to estimate how many thousands of dollars she and her family have spent at Iida's over the years.

About three years ago, Fujimori's family spent $300 on two koa family crests for her father and grandfather. Fujimori more recently paid $60 for a hapi coat for her son and yesterday had her eye on a $105 bamboo lamp.

Fujimori is decorating her Palolo Valley bedroom in a Japanese motif and said no other Honolulu business matches Iida's prices.

"I'm bummed," she said. "Where am I going to get my Japanese artifacts?"

Amy Murai has worked for Iida's for 41 years. Business at the store's new location in Ala Moana Center has been "terrible," she said. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kim only came in to the store yesterday to buy packs of origami paper — to make a few practice cranes in anticipation of the 1,001 that she will make for her cousin's wedding in October.

"I'm, like, very surprised (Iida's is) not going to be here," Kim said. "It's one of those things you always expect will be around."

Suisan Matsukichi Iida, Robert and Richard's grandfather, immigrated to Honolulu from Osaka, Japan, with the idea of importing Japanese goods to Hawai'i's growing Japanese population.

He went back and forth to Japan and in 1900 opened a store in Chinatown that specialized in pottery and glassware, Richard said.

But just before, in December 1899, the first of 71 victims came down with bubonic plague. In response, health officials burned Chinatown buildings and accidentally set fire to all of Chinatown — including Iida's.

"The bubonic plague wiped us out," Richard Iida said. "Then the building and everything all burned up in the fire."

Suisan Matsukichi's son, Koichi, arrived in Honolulu in 1908 and joined the family business. Koichi took over for his father in 1920 and in 1927 opened the new Iida's at the corner of Nu'uanu Avenue and Beretania Street.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government sent Koichi to Mainland internment camps. His wife, Nobu, died during the war, Richard said.

So Koichi's son-in-law, Tsuyoshi Nishimoto, took over Iida's and kept it running through martial law. When Koichi returned from the Mainland, he and Nishimoto ran Iida's together.

"My brother-in-law was very instrumental in making the store what it was up to now," Richard said. "We were involved. But we have to give a lot of credit to Nishimoto."

The privately held company became known as S.M. Iida Ltd. — the initials stand for Suisan Matsukichi — and family members took turns holding various titles.

After moving to Ala Moana, Iida's found a devoted local clientele that made up 70 percent to 80 percent of its sales. Most of the rest came from Mainland tourists. Japanese visitors mostly saw the store as a Hawai'i curiosity, Richard said.

"We struggled at first because we were at the end of the mall," Richard said. "Then things were good. Very good."

Despite Iida's rich history in Honolulu and her own 41 years at the store, Murai was stoic when Robert Iida broke the news about the closing on Monday.

The family will continue to rent space to tenants at its warehouse on Pensacola Street, he said. And Iida's 10 employees will stay on until July 15 to mop up.

But the store will close for good on June 26.

"I said, 'I guess that's it,' " Murai said. "Why should I be sad? Everybody getting old already. Thank God I don't have to come to work now."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.