Kawate Seed Shop to close after nearly 65 years in business

Back in the day, when a beloved local business closed its doors, the news spread quickly by word of mouth, what local folks call the “coconut wireless.”

When Kawate Seed Shop posted Tuesday on its Facebook page that the Hilo institution would close at the end of the month after almost 65 years in business, the word went viral on social media.

“Ohhh Kawate’s, how I will miss your gravy burgers dearly,” wrote Anela Kailiawa.

Posted Kaila Baby’grl Flores, “Where the fudge am I going to get my blueberry freckle ice cream?”

And enough teary-eyed emojis appeared online to flood Hilo, were the tears real.

Soon, the postage stamp-sized store at the Puna end of Kinoole Plaza — the former Food Fair supermarket building — had overflow lines. Dozens waited their turn for crack seed, shave ice — or ice shave, as many Hiloans call it — ice cream and gravy burgers.

“This is a landmark,” a man standing in the lunchtime line Wednesday said, and others nodded in agreement. Most said they had learned the store is closing on Facebook or Instagram.

Orianna Sanborn-Pruiett said she was “very devastated.”

“I’ve been coming here from as little as two,” she said. “And my grandpa used to bring us here every weekend. We’d do the same thing, grab a gravy burger, grab some ice cream after the beach, and go home and enjoy.

“As soon as I saw it on Facebook and I saw it on Instagram, it was just blowing up. Everybody’s like, ‘No, it cannot be closing.’ But yeah, it’s closing. And I understand. They’ve been doing this for awhile and they need to retire, which is totally awesome, but it’s sad at the same time.”

Inside, Jon Sasaki was manning the shave ice machine. He and wife Pearl Kawate-Sasaki took over the store from her mother, Thelma Kawate, in 2006, when the family matriarch was an octogenarian. Also behind the counter was manager Shyran Nakayama, who’s served up Hilo town’s cravings for more than a quarter-century. She and her crew were a whirlwind of motion, making gravy burgers and ringing up orders of crack seed, candy and other local delicacies.

Zeke Tomaselli and a friend, who also got the news on social media, made their requisite pilgrimage to treat themselves to perhaps a final taste of childhood nostalgia.

“I wen’ text him and said, ‘Brah, we’re gonna go Kawate right now and get us one gravy burger,’” Tomaselli, who grew up in Papaikou, said. “It’s kind of junk, yeah, because a lot of our local stores are shutting down, like Pinky’s (in Papaikou) last year and Kawate now. ’Cause this is our childhood memories.”

Kasie Young was in line holding her infant son, Keawe.

“He hasn’t had ice shave yet and he was supposed to have his first ice shave here,” she said. “Maybe it’s going to be sooner than expected. He’s just made a year. It’s unfortunate, but all good things, unfortunately, come to an end. But I bet you now everybody’s appreciating it, now that it’s going.”

Cory Nakamori was also there for shave ice and ice cream.

“I remember from when they used to have the shave ice truck and they used to come to my house,” he said. I can’t believe they’re closing but everybody’s got to retire. I’m just really going to miss the place.”

The shockwave of the impending closure was felt far beyond Hilo. One lady, who declined to give her name, said her niece in San Francisco “texted me online and told me she has to have some li hing powder.”

“When I was growing up, (the store) was over there, on the side of the road,” the woman said, pointing toward Kinoole Street.

In 1951, Robert and Thelma Kawate bought the Kinoole Cash and Carry store, which later became Kawate Seed Shop. That building was razed for the Food Fair parking lot in 1968. In addition to groceries, they sold crack seed and shave ice. Robert Kawate, who died in 2000, operated the shave ice truck, which also has passed into Hilo history.

“After school, I would come to the store and when my father would be done with work he’d peddle the shave ice from door to door,” Kawate-Sasaki said. “When Hilo used to rain a lot, before, we’d go to the countryside and sell shave ice and the kids would run out to the truck.”

Kawate’s shave ice is unique. Many of their syrups are family-made, including the li hing mui and lemon peel, unconventional shave ice flavors, perhaps, but a natural fit for a crack seed shop.

The store once occupied a larger space in the former supermarket building, later moving into its cozier corner digs. But the quality, care and love the family put into its products remained, building a loyal customer base spanning several generations.

“The gravy burger was from way back when Mrs. Kawate invented it. It’s been a hit ever since and continues,” Sasaki said. “The gravy, actually, is what makes the gravy burger. My mother-in-law had a certain recipe. I don’t know what it is. In fact, my wife won’t even tell me. She makes the gravy.”

The current ownership made at least one change in the burger, though, using a bigger ground beef patty.

“We sell about 500 gravy burgers in a normal week. But the past couple of days, we sold 500 gravy burgers a day,” Sasaki said.

Sasaki said his mother-in-law, who died April 6, 2015, at 93, was “a fantastic lady.” Kawate-Sasaki described her mom as “a cheerful lady, a real go-getter.” The couple assumed the operation a decade ago so Thelma Kawate could enjoy the store more and work less.

“I wanted to keep the store open for her so she could see her friends and her relatives come in and enjoy the shave ice. And the little kids. That’s what she would enjoy, to see the happy faces,” she said.

As much as Thelma Kawate loved the store, running it was challenging — and on at least one occasion, dangerous.

“She got robbed one time,” Kawate-Sasaki recalled, tears starting to well. “But there’s this nice man, Mamo Nakamura. Every day, he’d come in the morning and make sure she was all right.”

“He still comes and talks to me on the weekends,” Sasaki added. “I bring him coffee. He makes the shave ice boxes for us. And he’s still coming by after all these years and we have a good time.”

The couple said the store’s lease made selling it impractical. They’re looking forward to retirement and agreed the emporium has had an excellent run.

“I’m going to miss the friends and people and all the people we met along the way. Our employees are the best,” Kawate-Sasaki said. “I want to thank everybody for being loyal customers and bringing their kids here, their grandkids, their grandmas. I’m going to miss all that.”

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.