Happiness by the scoop

WAIMEA — If you spend enough time on the Westside, especially at sporting events or along the main drag of Waimea town, chances are you will run into Lisa Johnston.

And if you’ve lived in Waimea or visited the town long enough, you may have also met her father, Dick Johnston, who helped manage the Waimea Dairy and briefly ran Super Duper, a ice cream shop across the street from Hoffgard Park.

On most days, you can find Lisa in that same store, now called Super Duper Two, where she, like her father before her, helps put a smile on the faces of those who stop by, offering them a milk shake or ice cream cone.

“I know a lot of people who were given their first high school jobs by him,” the 52-year-old Waimea resident said on Thursday before opening up her shop at noon. “A lot of the people come in and say, ‘You know, I used to work here. Your dad hired me.’ I don’t remember, of course, because I was so little, but I like hearing those stories. The kids will come in and they’ll say, ‘My grandma used to come here every Sunday. That was their treat.’”

Although the details are a little fuzzy, Lisa said her father opened the first Super Duper ice cream store some time in 1966 — two years after Waihee Dairy closed on Maui and he relocated to Kauai with his family.

Lisa said doesn’t exactly know why her father chose the name Super Duper or decided on red and white as interior colors of the store — an interesting choice, she pointed out, since Waimea High School’s official colors are blue and white.

But what she can recall from her hanabata days are small memories of the store and bits and piece of what she has been told.

She can remember, for instance, scooping ice cream from her father’s store into little cake cones and handing them out to people from the back of a truck during a town parade.

Her father, Lisa was told, would also turn on the lights to an ice cream cone sign fastened on the store’s rooftop once the sun went down.

Meadow Gold mascot Lani Moo, she heard, made a few visits to the store for promotional events while her father owned it, even though there are no known photos from that time.

What is somewhat certain, however, is that her father sold the store after owning it for about three years.

The new owners, Lisa said, kept the Super Duper name and sold ice cream, hot dogs and plate lunches out of the store before it was closed around 1974.

Lisa later moved to Southern California and Seattle before moving back to Kauai in 2003.

Up until she reopened the ice cream store as Super Duper Two in 2009, Lisa was a familiar face around Waimea neighborhoods and sporting events, where she would sell ice cream treats out of a converted delivery van.

“I always wanted to bring the ice cream shop back,” Lisa said. “I always thought it would be a fun concept. It was always my dream to reopen and I always wanted to be a business owner back in the town where I grew up. ”

It took a little patience, she said, but a classmate eventually decided to close up a craft business and turn her father’s former rented store space over to her.

The Garden Island caught up with Lisa on Thursday to learn more about her business and what has kept it going across two generations.

TGI: Why did you decide to start selling ice cream when you returned home to Kauai from the Mainland?

Lisa Johnston: There used to be an ice cream truck that used to run through my neighborhood while I was living in Seattle, and I thought to myself, “How easy is that to do.” When I moved home, I realized there really wasn’t an ice cream truck, so I’m like, “Well, let’s try.” So I got that Koa Trading Company van, converted it and started running it around town. It was super easy to do and really fun — the kids loved it — but it kept breaking down, so then I was like, “Let’s start looking for a storefront.” Waimea didn’t have an ice cream shop and I knew, in talking to a lot of people here, that you get a lot of business coming through town with the tourists going up to Waimea Canyon. We opened during the recession — right when it was kind of at a low point, especially with housing — and we did a lot of research on Google before doing so. We found that the one thing that people won’t skimp on are the cheap treats like ice cream, coffee and other real simple things, so we’ve been really successful.

TGI: Why did you decide to showcase Roselani Ice Cream from Maui in your store rather than Meadow Gold, which your father used to carry when he owned the store?

LJ: I was born on Maui, and when we lived there, my dad used to run the Waihee Dairy there, and they used to supply the cream and milk for Roselani. Because he worked with that company while we were living there, I wanted to bring Roselani into the store to reflect that tie to Maui and his connection to that company. We’re really happy with it — it’s really good ice cream even though it’s not made on the island. A lot of people say, “Why don’t you make your own ice cream,” but I have no interest in it. Roselani has been made in Hawaii since 1932, so it’s like why even compete with that? It has a reputation, I like the company, they’re really interested in my business and they’re very supportive — I can call the owner of the business in Maui and just say, “Hey, this particular brand doesn’t look right this month,” and they’re like, “OK, we’ll take a look at it.” I consider myself to be a small business owner, but I love working with them because they’re really invested in the product and interested in how it appears to the public.

TGI: What made you decide to specifically focus on selling ice cream?

LJ:  I felt like ice cream would be an easy thing. I’m really happy with just ice cream, even though it’s easy but not so easy. If I started doing other things, I really couldn’t concentrate on the one product that I want to present.

TGI: What would you say are your most popular flavors?

LJ:  Definitely the most popular flavor is Kona Mud Pie, which includes Kona Coffee, fudge and chocolate cookies. For our tourists, they love our Macadamia Nut Crunch, which is a buttery vanilla ice cream with macadamia nuts and English toffee — that’s probably our best seller.

TGI: What has been the most difficult challenge that you have faced as a business owner over the years?

LJ:  I didn’t realize that it was a 24/7 job. I kind of was like, “Oh, this will be fun.” In three weeks, I’m going to New Zealand — my first time out of the county. I’ve been to Mexico and Canada, but this time, I’ll be going for three weeks and there will be no contact with the shop — I just have to trust my employees that they’re going to take care of it. So, I didn’t realize that it was always going to be on my mind — it’s like I’m living it, you know? And that was a big surprise for being a business owner. I’ve managed shops before and I was able to just not worry about it because it wasn’t mine, but now that I have my own business, it’s kind of like, “Holy cow, this is a lot of work.” People think it’s just fun, and it is fun, but there’s a lot of maintenance to it and a lot of expense — just a lot of thinking about all of the products and what supplies you need all the time. Oh boy, you’re kind of like, “Does this end?” But you know what? It’s so worth it because everybody that comes in here is happy and everybody that leaves is excited.

TGI: What is the most rewarding part about what you do?

LJ:  The most rewarding part is when I get tourists who come in and have been here when we first opened — they come in and say, “I’m so glad you’re still in business. We loved your ice cream and we have been waiting to come back. We’re so happy to see businesses that are still here from when we came two, three or four years ago.” I really love that kind of stuff. They’ll walk in sometimes and say, “Do you remember us?” I have no idea who they are, but I’ll always say, “Sure, I remember you guys.” The kids that come in are also a big part of it, too. When they come in, they’re so excited, and when you give them the ice cream, there’s this smile on their face — it’s such a simple thing, but it’s so fun.

TGI: When people visit your store, what is the first thing that you want them to see and what is something that you want them to leave with?

LJ:  I want them to see that this is just a fun place. One of the things I love is that, when you hand someone a cone and they take their first taste of it, probably 80 percent of the time, you hear them go, “Mmmm. This is good.” And I wait sometimes for them to say that, and if they don’t, I’ll ask, “Is everything OK,” and they’ll say, “Oh man, this is the best ice cream ever.” For me, it’s almost like I’ll hand the ice cream to them and then stand there and watch them. As soon as I hear, “Oh my gosh, this is so good,” I know my job is done. I’m so confident in the product that it’s almost a guarantee I’m going to know that they’re happy.

TGI: What have you done to keep things in the store the same from the time when your father first ran it?

LJ:  I think my idea of the store and even the name of it, Super Duper, is just fun, so what I really wanted to do was keep the nostalgic aspect of the store. I really wanted to keep it simple and kind of keep it old-fashioned. There’s nothing much to the store, yet I really look for things that catch kids’ eyes like the neon signs. I recently went to Disneyland and I bought those little figurines of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse because I just want the kids to create that sort of connection to the shop. I hear a lot of stories of kids driving by with their parents, who will tell me later, “All they keep saying is, ‘Super Duper. Super Duper. Let’s go to Super Duper.’” I love those kind of stories because they’re just so fun for me. So, I kind of want to keep it nostalgic for the old-timers but also for the kids to have some sort of connection when they get older. Of course my goal is to never shut the shop down so that when people get older they can bring their kids just like it was way back then.

TGI: What is the most interesting ice cream flavor or product that you’ve ever served in your store?

LJ:  We have very little rules here. If someone comes in and says, “Can you do this,” I tell my employees your answer is always going to be, “Yes.” So kids will come up with these crazy flavors just to put in a milk shake. They’ll go, “Oh, aunty, can you put four flavors in this milk shake,” and I’ll say, “Yes.” You can see them looking at the selection of ice creams to see what the grossest thing is that they can create and drink. Sometimes I serve their shake with their four or five flavors and it looks like mud or it looks like ground up spinach and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, this is great.” I don’t like a lot of rules. When you go to restaurants, I don’t like how you’re  told, “You can’t do this,” or, “You can’t do that.” Kids are really the ones who give us ideas about milk shakes — we have a specialty milk shake menu and they’re the ones who come up with some of the selections on there. I just really listen to what people order, and if it’s a repetitive one, we’ll put it on the menu.

TGI: What motivates you to be involved in so many fundraisers and charitable events in the community?

LJ: This town is my town — this is my hometown and anybody that asks I will do anything to help them out and raise money. As an example, we provide ice cream for the softball team and they sell it at the food booth and we give them half of the profits. Anybody that asks, I will do whatever they ask. Instead of donating, I usually try to have my product there and give them some of the proceeds so we’re visible. It’s all about giving back to the community and it’s my community — I’m happy to do it and I want to do it. The whole idea of getting this shop was to give back. I feel that just our presence here is giving back to the community — we provide a service, a treat, a shop in town, where they can come in and get a special treat or reward for a good report card or maybe just because they’re on vacation.

TGI: What are your future plans for the business?

LJ: I would like to keep it pretty much the same. We get asked a lot if we are going to expand or have another location because the name of our shop is Super Duper Two. The “two” is because we reopened — it’s the second opening. However, a lot of people are like, “Where’s Super Duper One?” We get that a lot and I didn’t anticipate that question. So we always say that we’re reopening and they ask, “Where’s Super Duper 3?” I’d love to have another location — maybe on the Eastside or South Shore, but that’s in the future.

But, for now, I’d like to build the shop up a little more to make it more nostalgic or retro — that’s my idea. What I really wish is that I can have an ice cream truck again because the kids who used to come to the truck come in here and ask, “Remember the truck? It was so fun and we used to run out with whatever money we could find.” It was such a good memory and I would like to have a truck that we could take to events but also run around the neighborhoods with. Opening a second location is maybe a little bit behind getting a truck because it’s something that people really, really loved and they talk about it all the time.  

• Darin Moriki, county government reporter, can be reached at 245-0428 or dmoriki@thegardenisland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @darinmoriki.