KAPA‘A — The meat is cut fresh daily, said Afton Camat of the Kojima Store’s meat department. “We’ve always had the Kaua‘i beef,” said Glen Kojima of the family store in Kapa‘a. “We’re now backing up that Kaua‘i beef with
KAPA‘A — The meat is cut fresh daily, said Afton Camat of the Kojima Store’s meat department.
“We’ve always had the Kaua‘i beef,” said Glen Kojima of the family store in Kapa‘a. “We’re now backing up that Kaua‘i beef with counter service and the famous pink paper. We still have all the local favorite meat preparations.”
That small touch adds to Kojima’s plans of right-sizing the Kapa‘a store to become “a friendly neighborhood store.”
For the past several months, Kojima Store, in its third generation of family, has been working on the remodeling, working around customer shopping and the tight economy.
“The timing was right,” Kojima said. “In the process of meeting current market trends, we also invested in trying to reduce our carbon footprint by taking advantage of the sun.”
Arrays of photovoltaic panels line the roof of the Kojima Store building, visible from the highway as motorists drive past.
In addition to the solar system, Kojima said new, more efficient refrigeration and freezer systems were installed in the store that now occupies about a third of what it formerly occupied.
“The basic concept of what we did was trying to find a way to stay afloat in the tight economy,” he said. “At one time, Kojima Store was one of the biggest independent grocery stores. Now, we’re the friendly neighborhood store with a smaller carbon footprint, and we’ll create rental spaces.”
Customers accustomed to the Kojima Store entrance below the rise in the roof now enter the store through a new entrance located midway down the building, a large “Now Open” sign indicating the entrance that is automated in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We’ve always appreciated the strong customer support Kojima Store has had over the past three generations,” Kojima said. “We are working to provide them, and our future customers, with even better things.”
Kojima Store is open seven days a week. Mondays through Fridays, the store is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday hours are from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
