Everybody calls her Aunty. For 14 years, she’s been there, handing out cookie samples and the sort of tart observations that only a few very honest, very charming people can get away with.

She’s watched the stores closing one by one at Ward Warehouse, said goodbye to all those friends. At the end of this month, it’ll be her turn. Honolulu Cookie Company, the flagship store in which she’s worked for 14 years, will close to make way for a Howard Hughes Corp high rise that will be built on the spot. Honolulu Cookie Company has 10 other locations on Oahu, but Aunty Young Hi Choi says she’s ready to retire.

She was born and raised in South Korea in a family of 12 children, seven girls and five boys. One of her brothers came to America for school, got married, made a home, and brought all the siblings and later their parents to live in the U.S. That was in 1970 when she was 20 years old.

“When I first came, I didn’t speak English at all. My brother’s American wife said to me, ‘Are you tired?’ and I had to ask my brother, in Korean, ‘What is she saying?’”

Now eight of the siblings live in Hawaii; four are on the mainland.

She is the 10th child and the youngest girl. The baby of the family, her brother Keith Sung, is the founder and owner of Honolulu Cookie Company. When the company moved from selling its trademarked pineapple-shaped cookies wholesale to retail by opening its first store in Ward Warehouse, Aunty was there to talk story with customers, bring home-cooked Korean food and make friends.

“That’s my specialty. I make everybody feel comfortable,” she says.

Before that, she worked for another brother, Ted, at his restaurant, Ted’s Drive-In that used to be in Moiliili.

“That’s why I’m such an excellent cook,” she says. From someone else, this might come off as bragging. From Aunty, it’s cute. And you know she’s telling the truth.

She’s that way as a salesperson, saying things to customers like, “You know, one is not a good number. Maybe three is a good number.” From anyone else, that might sound pushy. From Aunty, you just smile and grab two more.

“You don’t want to be fake. Gotta be from here,” she says, pointing to her heart. “Not, ‘Buy this!’ ‘Buy that!’ No can. I treat everyone regular, like a friend. Plus I bribe them with cookie samples.”

Aunty says she plans to travel, take care of her health and spend time with her boyfriend of 29 years. “We never married. No need. We have companionship. It’s comfortable. We don’t bother each other. It’s good.”

But she looks wistful when she’s asked about the time, just a few weeks from now, when she won’t be at the store handing out cookies and bon mots and easy conversation.

“I’m going to miss all my customers. My regulars,” she says. “There’s a lot.”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.