WAHIAWA — Good times have returned to Wahiawa, where economic fortunes continue to rise and fall with the comings and goings of troops from Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield.

Two years ago this month, the first of 11,000 soldiers began shipping out to train for deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and revenue instantly plummeted at some bars, restaurants and shops by as much as 85 percent.

While much of Hawai'i continues to enjoy a robust economy and the lowest unemployment rate in the country, the largest deployment of Hawai'i-based soldiers since the Vietnam War gave Wahiawa businesses a frightening reminder of how closely their livelihoods are linked to the two Army bases nearby.

"When the soldiers left, all of a sudden business dropped to zero — or close to it," said Dan Nakasone, vice president of the Wahiawa Community and Business Association. "Some of them had some real scary times. Wahiawa was a semi-ghost town. Now the shops are full again with uniformed personnel. It's incredible how much we depend upon the military."

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism had forecast in 2004 that Wahiawa businesses would suffer a $310 million drop in revenue from the deployments.

No follow-up research was done to see if the forecast came true, DBEDT officials said.

But individually, several businesses said they cut hours and laid off employees to offset the sudden decline. Others, like Lance McLain, owner and sole employee of the Dragon Tattoo shop on Kamehameha Highway, opened an hour earlier and closed an hour later, hoping to capture any kind of business.

Instead, days often passed before even a single customer walked in.

"It was the slowest I've seen it in the 20 years I've been in this location," McLain said. "Now, we're definitely better off than we were."

Penny Penny, owner of the Ebony Styles House of Hair, opened her shop only on Fridays and Saturdays during the deployment, let go of her part-time workers and found work as a licensed practical nurse to augment her dwindling income.

"I definitely felt the difference," Penny said. "Let's just say that I got to know myself very well sitting in here all by myself. It was terrible. Now it's great. It's much better."

But as Wahiawa's businesses enjoy a new round of economic prosperity coinciding with the return of troops over the past several months, they're also bracing for the deployment of 7,000 more soldiers to Iraq in August.

Many of the 150 businesses that make up the Wahiawa Community and Business Association said they don't have specific plans to cope with another major departure of soldier customers and their families, who often move back to the Mainland during major deployments.

"I'm going to pray," Penny said. "What else can you do?"

John Eiting, owner of the Top Hat Bar, laid off all of his handful of workers and recruited his wife, Lois, to help him out when business fell about 60 percent immediately after soldiers began shipping out.

"It was terrible," Eiting said. "It was worse than I thought it would be."

He used the slow time to spend about $10,000 renovating the facade and interior of the bar, which opened Dec. 1, 1941, six days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During the Top Hat's facelift, Eiting was careful to preserve the three bullet holes from when a Japanese Zero strafed the building.

"The place was falling apart from termites and water damage," Eiting said. "We figured that while everyone's gone, why not take the opportunity to patch it up?"

Now that his soldier customers and their civilian friends are back, Eiting plans to advertise much more to keep business humming through the upcoming deployment.

Margaret Walker, owner of Molly's Smokehouse, kept each of her 10 employees during the slow times of the past two years, but had to streamline her operation, focus more on catering, and shift her advertising and direct mailings to civilian residents in nearby Mililani and Waipio Gentry.

"We had to change," Walker said. "We had to cut back and change the way we operate, on a very streamlined budget."

In May, Walker plans to open her second restaurant, in the Moanalua Shopping Center, near the airport industrial complex and the Navy Exchange, where she hopes to draw from a more diverse range of civilian and military customers.

The new Molly's Smokehouse will have more than twice as many employees as its sister restaurant, which will remain open.

While Walker will increase her advertising budget to showcase the new restaurant, she also plans to remodel the Wahiawa location and may use it to produce wholesale food to be sold through retailers.

If business drops in Wahiawa when the next major round of troop departures in August, Walker hopes the wholesale operation will help sustain the original restaurant.

After six years running Molly's Smokehouse, Walker has learned not to depend too heavily on her military customers.

"In Wahiawa, if you're going to do business in this area and have any serious reliance on the military, you're in trouble," Walker said. "Yes, we want the military. It's a big part of our business. But we try to structure ourselves so it's not a deal-breaker when they leave. And they leave all the time."

Wahiawa shops recovered with return of troops, but will suffer when soldiers leave in August

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.