S. Tokunaga store expanding

It’s a typical Tuesday at the S. Tokunaga Store in Hilo. Anyone who has ever stepped foot inside the 26 Hoku St. location knows what that means.

The sun is shining and people are coming in and out of the store, checking out the latest fishing gear and asking about snorkeling and hunting equipment.

Friendly employees interact with customers while they trade stories and knowledge. Meanwhile, third-generation owner Mike Tokunaga is running the cash register and telling a delivery man where to put his latest shipment.

Longtime customer and former commercial fisherman Ralph Snively gets his attention when he starts talking about how he used to sell tuna for 40 cents a pound.

“No way,” Tokunaga said before checking in with a costumer.

“Oh, ya. Let me tell ya …” Snively responded.

Conversations are often lively at the local shop. There’s something intimate about the 1,500-square-foot location, and it’s not just the atmosphere.

Currently, the store is filled wall-to-wall with outdoor supplies. From standup paddleboards to fishing poles to any type of tackle you can think of, S. Tokunaga seems to offer more than what it can hold.

That’s why Tokunaga plans to expand his business into a 6,000-square-foot building at 691 Manono St. The new location is tentatively scheduled to open in February.

“We’ve been in this location since 1991,” he said during a previous interview with Stephens Media Hawaii. “Why are we moving? We’re expanding. This location just became too small. We kind of outgrew it. So I say, ‘What do we do? Do we expand? Do we stay where we are? Do we want to keep up with demand?’ We just figured that we would just do it. We figured we might as well expand and keep up with the customer’s wants and demands.”

Expanding a business that’s been in his family for three generations stirred up memories for the Hilo business owner. Tokunaga inherited the business from his mother, who took it over from his grandfather, Sumie Tokunaga, in 1960.

“And that’s unusual,” he said. “She had to really prove herself in a business environment. Being a woman running a fishing tackle business and all,” he said.

A fishing enthusiast herself, Tokunaga said it ended up being “right up her alley.”

“So, you know, that was what you called a real family owned business, a real mom and pops store. You know what I mean?” he said. You have my grandfather, his wife used to come in, his daughter-in-law, the whole family would be hanging out.”

Tokunaga was next in line and said when the time came for him to take over he thought, “Why not?”

“So they handed me the keys and said, ‘Do what you have to do,’” he said. “And that’s kind of what it’s all about. That’s what our business depends on. Just keeping a long-term relationship with our existing customers and getting new ones.”

That’s one aspect of the business that attracted 22-year-old Josh La Pinta, who studies marine biology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, to work with Tokunaga.

“I feel like I learn a lot from the people who just come in here on a regular basis,” he said.

Tokunaga’s knowledge and customer service earned the Small Business Administration’s State of Hawaii Small Business Person of the Year award in 2012, an honor that afforded him the opportunity to represent the entire state in Washington, D.C. for the SBA’s National Small Business Week.

But, like his beginnings, Tokunaga is humble when talking about his accomplishments.

“I think that was 2012, maybe 2011. Ha! How do you like that? It’s big stuff and I don’t even remember,” he said.

For more information about S. Tokunaga Store, visit tokunagastore.com.

Email Megan Moseley at mmoseley@hawaiitribune-herald.com.