A popular smoothie stand and restaurant on the north end of the Onomea scenic route is up for sale.
The asking price for What’s Shakin’, which has been on the market about 2 1/2 months, is $3.4 million. Included in the price is a farm and house on the 20-acre parcel at 27-999 Old Mamalahoa Highway.
“The kind of buyer who will purchase this is one who understands the lifestyle here and wants to live here where it’s very quiet with a beautiful setting, along with a world-renowned business,” Tim Withers said Monday afternoon. “One of the things we always have to remember in Hawaii is lifestyle. That’s the key ingredient. Plus, the business. We have a super successful business and a wonderful piece of property in Onomea. There aren’t too many of those left, I’ve heard. Along with the prosperous business, you also get 20-plus acres of mature trees that provide over 90 percent of the fruit at the smoothie stand.”
Withers and his wife, Patsy, have built the brand for more than two decades, and What’s Shakin’ is a regular stop for tour buses ferrying visitors to nearby Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden on the Onomea coastline north of Hilo.
“For locals and visitors, this stop is a must, with fresh home-grown, homemade food of only local, natural ingredients,” states the listing by Rebecca Keliihoomalu, senior vice president of MacArthur Sotheby’s International Realty. The listing also touts the location of the iconic yellow building, “on the way to Volcano National Park and Waipio Valley,” and notes both destinations attract more than a million visitors a year.
The on-site farm provides a cornucopia of farm-fresh produce for the restaurant, which also features sandwiches, wraps and nachos
“My husband planted the most amazing avocados you’ll ever see,” Patsy Withers said. “We have, like, 700 banana trees, citrus, papayas, lychee, rambutan, mangoes, passion fruit and pineapples. Most of the rambutans, if we don’t sell them here, we sell to Whole Foods. But, I tell you, everything else is utilized at What’s Shakin’.”
Patsy Withers described the business as “a great opportunity” for the next owners.
“It’s a happy place; it’s very successful with lots of hustle-bustle,” she said. “All the people who come here cannot get enough of it. That’s why we’re so busy. People who come here return and the word is out.”
She added the restaurant portion of the business has six part-time employees and is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. seven days a week.
“They all love their jobs and they all want to stay, which is a good sign,” she said.
Tim Withers described the farm’s operation as “about 90 percent organic.”
“I spray no insecticides or fungicides,” he said, adding the operation composts its green waste.
The Hawaii County Real Property Tax Office website places the land’s market value as $420,000 and the market building value as $252,000, for a total of $672,000. The considerably higher asking price, which Tim Withers said is not negotiable, is because of the success of the business. He added, “What’s Shakin’ is unique.”
“There’s nothing like it,” he said. “And you really can’t judge it by the current (property values) around this area because it’s such a unique property. What’s Shakin’ is all-world and that’s what sets us apart.”
The couple said they’re willing to stay however long it takes to guide new ownership through the transition period.
“I’m in it for the love of this place,” Tim Withers said. “I’m not going to just walk away from it because it’s been the blood, sweat and tears of Patsy and I for the past 23 years.”
Interested parties can call Keliihoomalu at (808) 895-1156 or email her at rebecca@macarthurhawaii.com.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
