It took a worldwide event to get a longtime record store on the Windward side some due credit.

For the third year in a row, Record Store Day back in April celebrated the culture that is part of the neighborhood, independent businesses around the world, which included in its campaign Hungry Ear Records in Kailua.

Store owners Dennie Chong and Ward Yamashita hope to keep that upbeat spirit going by celebrating 30 years in the retail music biz. Today through Saturday, they’ll be reducing prices on all of their inventory, which include new and used CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays and vinyl records.

The music industry overall has been seeing a resurgence in vinyl sales.

“There’s a wide range of customers buying albums now,” said Yamashita in a prepared statement, “from high school kids just discovering the beauty of the format to the older crowd who bought records in their youth and are still drawn to the sound, graphics, and even smells that only come from a vinyl record album.”

“The independent music store has always been a place for people to hang out, make friends, and talk about music,” added Chong. “There is a sense of community and ‘ohana.”

Although the store only occupies 700 square feet of space, it houses over 3,000 new and used records and well over 5,000 new and used CDs. The owners have recently signed a new lease that will ensure that it will remain in its original Kailua location for the foreseeable future.

Hungry Ear specializes in Hawaiian and locally recorded music, reggae, and classic rock on compact disc and vinyl.
The business was founded by the late Luke Yamashiro and his two partners in 1980. Yamashiro also co-founded Coconut Grove Music, the instrument store which is next door to Hungry Ear on Ku‘ulei Road.

Chong said he believes compact discs and vinyl can comfortably co-exist with digital downloads.

“Used CDs are still a great deal, especially in this economy,” he said. “Most of our used CDs are $5 to $7, which is considerably cheaper than downloading them. Buying used is just one more way to recycle.”

After Yamashiro passed away in 2005, his wife Michelle continued operations at Hungry Ear until 2008, when former employees Yamashita and Chong returned to continue the business’ legacy.

“Dennie was the first employee at Hungry Ear, and in my time I’ve worked at all four (of its original) locations, so we’ve seen a lot of changes in the music industry,” said Yamashita. “Our store is back down to just the original Kailua location, which is fitting since this where it all began. Kailua and Waimanalo customers have always really been there to keep us up and running.”

“We’re pretty sure that we’re the oldest and longest-running record/CD store on the island,” said Chong in a later e-mail. “We started before other stores on the island did (Jelly’s, Stylus, Rainbow Books) and before other chains entered the market (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Sam Goody, Best Buy). And I think with our recent new lease in hand, we will still be around after some of the others have decided to call it a day or pull out of the market.”

The store’s phone number is 262-2175. Hungry Ear can also be found on the Internet at MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.