Oahu-based Waialua Soda Works, the boutique soda company that produced its first bottle in 2004 and recently won distribution in Whole Foods Markets in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona, has obtained local investor muscle to further push the expansion envelope.

"We’ve received funding from an equity capital firm out of Honolulu, which is good because it stays in the islands," said Jason Campbell, who, with his wife, Karen, established Waialua Soda Works in 2003. Campbell did not disclose the dollar figure.

The local investors are led by Tradewind Capital Group Inc., whose officers include some minority investors in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser — but it’s not as if they tipped us off to this story. They didn’t.

"They (the local investors) did not purchase us," Campbell said, but a new company, North Shore Beverage Co. Ltd., was formed to reflect the investment.

The Waialua Soda that is sold in Hawaii is made by the Campbells in Waialua using natural, local ingredients. They ship those ingredients to a mainland bottler for mainland sales.

Kona Red, the newest flavor, is made from antioxidant-rich coffee cherries, using the fruit — not the bean, from whence coffee is produced.

Waialua Soda Works’ new financial heft will enable it to increase production and expand sales and distribution channels, Campbell said. The goal is to "saturate Hawaii and then do a heavy focus on the West Coast, in particular from Seattle down to San Diego," with a concentration on "Los Angeles beach cities."

It was important to find investors locally, but not just people with deep pockets, Campbell said. "They’re successful business people and know quite a bit much more than we do." For the mom-and-pop soda-pop makers, the investment represents "not only money, but smart money."

Iconic downtown diner closed

New Liberty Grill, which started out as Liberty Grill on Fort Street Mall more than 60 years ago, served its last meals yesterday, leaving eight employees and a boss without work.

"We’re the last of the mom-and-pops downtown," said owner Kim Gould, who, with her boyfriend Ross Hanaoka, bought the business from Isamu Uehara in 2002. Hanaoka died in 2003.

Gould cites the economy as one reason for the closure, but "it was a lot of factors, and our prices are supercheap, that’s what I don’t understand. Our food is the best. … We open no cans here. … Everything we cook is from scratch."

A favorite of many downtown denizens, it was also a regular stop for generations of Hawaii politicos including U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong.

Now 41, Gould was 19 when she was hired at New Liberty Grill as a waitress. At that time there were five waitresses for 24 tables, "and it was crazy busy," she said. "We were open nighttime, too, until 8 p.m. for dinner."

Back then, people could park right outside, but development of new buildings and moves to create pedestrian malls removed parking and cut into the business. Scaffolding erected around the building for repair work around 2007 dampened foot traffic, and then the economy tanked, with state and city worker furloughs inflicting an irreparable toll on customer counts.