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Hungry Ear Records will celebrate its 30th anniversary next week at the Kailua store founded by the late Luke Yamashiro.
The store is an anomaly in a digital download age that has seen big-box rivals like Tower Records essentially fold—except that it is in Kailua, where funky stores, mom-and-pop shops and unique boutiques have held court and kept loyal shoppers for generations.
Hungry Ear is known for its Hawaiian and reggae music selection, and the bulk of its revenue is generated through sales of used rock CDs, "but the thing that we’re trying to focus on is our vinyl," said co-owner Ward Yamashita.
It’s not as big as Jelly’s but it is the only such retailer on the Windward side. It carries more than 300 new titles on vinyl, as well as thousands of previously owned titles on vinyl, with prices ranging from $2 to $500.
Yamashita and business partner Dennie Chong bought the store from Yamashiro’s widow, Michelle, in 2008, three years after her husband’s death.
"It’s something that we felt we had to do. We have a big affection for the store," Yamashita said. "We had to take the shot."
Chong was the first employee at Hungry Ear. Yamashita worked at all four Hungry Ear locations, including the one Yamashiro boldly opened on Makaloa Street right across from Tower Records on Kapiolani Boulevard. The Makaloa store has since closed.
Yamashiro "had a reputation" for extensive knowledge of all sorts of genres of music recorded on vinyl, Yamashita said. People would stop in and talk music with him. One visitor from Japan would stop in to see Yamashiro each time he was in Hawaii.
Yamashita and Chong bought the business just before the recession and have employed various strategies to keep going, including Internet sales and making special orders for customers.
Additionally, savvy collectors know that "we’ll definitely take their name, phone number and e-mail address and let them know" if the store gets a rare item they are seeking, Yamashita said.
They buy used CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays as well as turntables and other stereo equipment for resale. Hungry Ear also buys collections, and the partners will make house calls in some cases.
The store will have an anniversary sale Thursday through Saturday.
Now that talk of Target taking over the Don Quijote space has a projected 2012 opening date, the partners are concerned. They have recently signed a new three-year lease.
Target’s "entire music section is a loss-leader, just to entice people to shop," Yamashita said. "We can’t compete with that."
Hungry Ear will focus on vinyl and other aspects that will set it apart from the department store and its hourly workers. Each has musical-knowledge chops that customers in a neighborhood record store expect.
Chong was a sales and marketing representative for Sony BMG Music Entertainment, promoting new releases. Yamashita founded The Hula Source, a website about Hawaiian music and culture, a business his wife continues to run.
