In the 56 years that Young's Fish Market has been in business, the Young family has had to make many adjustments to keep up with changes in customer tastes, even if it meant taking the "fish" out of the daily offerings.

Wilfred and Charlotte Young opened the business in 1951 in a small shop in Liliha and sold primarily fresh fish. Today, Young's Fish Market, which has relocated to the City Square Shopping Center in Kapalama, is best known for its Hawaiian food, with fresh fish accounting for only about 5 percent of its sales.

Alan Young, who took over as head of the store in 1979, said the family has always had to fine-tune its business to survive. His parents realized early on that selling just fish would not sustain the business.

"The fish business in those days, if the weather was lousy and they didn't catch much fish, there was nothing for you to sell," Young said.

To make up for the fish problem, his parents began to cook and sell Chinese food, as well as groceries, and eventually added Hawaiian food to the menu.

The Youngs were good cooks, but did not know how to make laulau and other Hawaiian food. But they eventually learned and the specialty food soon took off.

"It was a matter of evolving with the demand over the years," Alan Young said.

Today, Young's Fish Market produces more than 1,000 laulau each day. The eatery also makes its own poke, pipikaula, beef and tripe stew, chicken long rice, squid lu'au, haupia and Chinese food like roast pork, char siu and roasted turkey tails.

It's a far cry from the simple fish store that his parents opened on Liliha Street near Kuakini Street. But being able to adapt to changes is what the family has done well over the years.

This year, the U.S. Small Business Administration recognized the achievements of the Young family and named it the Family Owned Small Business of the Year for O'ahu.

"Before it was just take out, wrap up and take home," the second-generation owner said. "When we started the plate lunches, that was even easier for (the customers) to get a meal and not having to buy everything by bulk and take it all home. You can have your mini-lu'au anytime you want."

Young said his store averages about $2 million in gross sales each year and he expects to top that mark this year. He said the only obstacles that keep the business from growing more are the shortage of raw material and employees.

He said the poi and taro leaf shortage limits the amount of food that Young's can produce. The company that supplies him with his four to five imu kalua pigs each week also will be going out of business soon, and this will force Young to make his own.

Young said his company doesn't have a Web site because he wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand. He routinely has to turn down orders, particularly during peak seasons such as graduation time, because of the material and worker issues.

But Young said this is all part of doing business and he continues to come up with ideas to deal with the problems. His latest is a sea asparagus salad that is made of a byproduct from the shrimp farms in Kahuku.

"It's started to take off," Young said. "You've got to keep your options open to other things that come around."

Young, 54, said he wants to work another six to 10 years before retiring. He grew up in the business, having worked every day after school since the sixth grade.

He said he's pleased that his son Daniel, 21, has agreed to take over the business.

Young said he still enjoys coming to work, but has learned to slow down. He and his sister, Barbara Connelly, were co-owners until her death in 2005.

"There was a time when (the business) did control us and we had no life. Our life was the business and it had to be that way in order to survive," Young said. "But when my sister passed away, that kind of gave me a wake-up call. What are we in this for? You have to make the time to enjoy sometimes. The business is still very important and still takes a lot of time, but it will still survive without you being there all the time."

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.