A family-run salvage business specializing in discount grocery products, damaged freight goods and closeout items is shutting its doors for good by the end of September after 33 years in Kalihi.

The Freight Merchant at 1203 N. School St., a staple for area residents and those from as far as Waianae and Waimanalo, has lost its lease on the aged building it has been operating in since 1985.

The shop, owned by Joe Hirata, has helped many struggling families, as well as people simply looking for bargains. Hirata is selling remaining items at 25 to 50 percent off the already discounted prices.

“As a single parent with kids … there was no way that I could’ve fed my family. These guys have been a lifesaver because it stretched my food budget. That helped stretch my money a lot,” said Liliha resident Jeannie Pettus, 73, a customer for at least 25 years who would drive there from Nanakuli in the 1980s. “This neighborhood, with all the people struggling, this is the kind of place that the island needs. It helps people to make ends meet.”

Linda Albert, 52, a customer since 1993, who lives at the Kuhio Park Terrace public housing, said the store is always her first stop when grocery shopping.

“The reason is the prices. It’s affordable,” she said. “It’s way more cheap (than other stores). This is where we can buy stuff and save. We live paycheck to paycheck. Where can you find $5 pants?”

Waianae resident Nadine Rosa, 26, said her family members have been loyal customers as long as she can remember, frequenting the store weekly for snacks and pupu. The shop owners and workers have become like family, she said.

“It’s so sad because then I’m not going to see them around,” Rosa said, adding that she’ll also miss the bargains. “I don’t want them to go. I wish there was somebody that could take over and still have this ohana here. At regular stores you pay an arm and a leg.”

Hirata said the landlord is looking to repurpose the building, and it is simply not feasible to re-establish his business in another location with the high startup costs. He’s hoping to find someone to keep the mom-and-pop shop — which sells everything from food to household items and clothes at 33 percent off regular prices — open for the community.

“I started it because I wanted to help people by lowering their food bill,” said Hirata, who has two employees and a number of volunteers who help at the 1,800-square-foot shop. “A lot of people who bought from us raised their families on our store. Some of them come here every day to check out what we got.”

Pearl City resident Donald Yip, 96, who has volunteered at the store six days a week for at least the past decade, said he feels “real bad” for the people who depend on the longtime business.

“It’s something really to help the public,” he said. “I came across asparagus (at another grocery store) that was almost $6. Over here it was $1.75. That’s a big difference.”

Hirata’s daughter, Debbie Chaiprakorb, added, “Times are hard. It’s really sad to see it go.”

She has fond childhood memories of helping her father, who has had the business for nearly 50 years, sell goods all day at the Sunday swap meets from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“It was a family business. That’s how my dad put us through private school: working till midnight at his full-time job and doing the salvage business,” she said. “Our house used to be a warehouse. It was crazy. He just loved bargains and passing on bargains. It was thrilling.”

The Freight Merchant is known for great deals but also for Hirata’s generous spirit, she said, adding that her father would deliver groceries to agencies serving the homeless whenever there was an abundance of goods.

“There were times when I didn’t even have and I was trying to help my kids, who had even less as they got older,” Pettus said. “They’d say, ‘Come on down fill up your bag, it’s OK.’ They’re that kind of people. They have been such a godsend to so many people, it would be a shame to take this away when it’s so helpful. When you’re trying to stretch a dollar … this store has been ‘numero uno.‘ They’re here for the people.”