Bill Stockly has a simple story to tell about how he spent 35 years of his life selling fish, aquariums and supplies in Kona.
It began when he was in college and he bought a 5-gallon aquarium from a local store.
“Be careful, it’s an addictive hobby,” the boy behind the counter told him.
Stockly said he scoffed at the idea, until he had to relocate to the living room as he’d filled his room with aquariums.
And now he is closing down the retail part of Stockly’s Aquariums, located in the same building in Kona’s Old Industrial Area for more than three decades.
Before getting into the aquarium business, Stockly said he was pursuing his training as a scientist in fisheries management in Hawaii, and then Alaska.
Stockly, and wife, Lisa, returned from Alaska so he could begin work on an aquaculture project, but by the time they arrived, the project had fallenthrough. They couple was desperate, having given up a solid job for nothing, and to complicate the situation, Lisa was seven months pregnant.
Stockly’s Aquariums started when he walked into one of the hotels and told the manager that if they built a platform, he’d build an aquarium. Then another hotel heard of it, and knowledge that Stockly was making aquariums spread.
Initially, Bill and Lisa made the aquariums at home until realizing they would need to take a window out of their home to remove a project from the house. So, they subleased the current location from a glass company. As operations expanded, the business got into retail sales and took over more space in the building located at the intersection of Kaiwi and Luhia streets.
The company has always been a family endeavor, said Bill. Over the years, both Bill and Lisa have worked there with the help of their daughters as they grew older. Sometimes, one of their daughters would bring over a friend and hide behind the counter, Lisa said. Both girls continue to support their parents when they visit, she said.
The couple made the decision five years ago to close when their lease came up for renewal. Lisa said they did not know exactly when that would be until recently.
For about 2.5 years, Bill has been telling people this was his “aloha tour” when he’d maintain their tanks.
That did begin to ring hollow as time progressed. But events continued to guide him toward closing the store.
The job is mentally taxing, he said, because he’s treated as a fish doctor. While he’s always glad to give advice, he said, the effort of sorting out symptoms and prescribing actions can be tiring.
“This brain’s been picked enough,” he said.
It did give him a real appreciation for how human doctors have to struggle, he added.
There was another reason. His father died at 95 and he’s 64.
“I didn’t want to be the guy who died in his shop,” he said.
Competition from large retailers and custom aquarium operations also played a role in the decision to end the business after so many years.
“It’s hard to do a mom and pop, brick and mortar store,” Bill said, “with more and more online and big box stores.”
But, the nature of the Kona community helped them keep going over the years, Bill said. He has people come in with children who remember being there as children. Loyal customers would return again and again for the wide variety of fish, supplies and his expertise. Some would even just stop in to say “hello” on Christmas Eve, Lisa added.
Though other retailers and custom aquarium operations exist, Bill feels his departure will leave a void.
“Hopefully someone will come along and take my spot,” he said.
So far, the Stocklys haven’t decided exactly when their doors will close. The lease ends in November. Bill is considering closing down the week before Thanksgiving so they can have a holiday without worrying about the store.
Lisa, however, hadn’t considered the full implications of having holidays off. It came to her in a rush that they would no longer have to call into the store or think about the fish. Her eyes went wide with shock when she realized she could take part in the annual Black Friday sales, instead of having to work.
In his long weekends, Bill has heard an echo of what he’ll do with retirement, and he’s not comfortable with it.
“It’s hard to not do anything,” he said.
That’s part of the reason why he is maintaining the company’s 18 current aquarium maintenance accounts, in addition to the 300-gallon tank in his home. He’s also going to continue building sealed ecospheres and is thinking about expanding a greenhouse at home.
Nonetheless, it’s a far smaller portfolio than the 40 aquariums he maintained in his heyday.
At one point, there were so many Stockly’s aquariums in downtown Kona people would wonder if the Chamber of Commerce required aquariums, Bill said.
“What is it with this Chamber of Commerce?” he remembers people asking. “Does everyone have to have an aquarium?”
Stockly’s oldest aquarium can be found in Quinn’s Almost by the Sea on Alii Drive.
