This Is It Bakery and Deli in Kakaako closing shop today

In 1979 Steve and Mona Gelson started what would become a 40-year career in making and selling bagels, and that career comes to an end today with the closure of This Is It Bakery and Deli in Kakaako.

On Friday at around 3 p.m., just after the bakery closed for the day, Steve Gelson, 70, and a handful of employees were still hard at work preparing hundreds of food items — New York-style bagels; bialys, bagel-like rolls; bagel dogs; and cream cheese — for their last day of business.

An industrial mixer behind the store was mixing dough, and afterward employees ran the dough through a conveyor belt-like machine called a “bagel former” that spat out raw but shaped bagels.

They were allowed to rise before being placed on racks in a refrigerator so they can be baked today.

The crew is preparing to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,500 bagels, with hundreds already pre-ordered. Gelson expects to sell twice the 1,800 or so bagels he sold Friday, which itself is about three or four times more than the shop sells on a normal day.

“Ever since the pandemic has been easing up, it’s been getting busier. But the last month has been really busy,” he said.

It might also have something to do with the paper notices they put up about a month ago saying today was the last day of business.

There was a line of about 10 people waiting outside the shop early Friday morning, and the line remained the entire day, Gelson said.

The Gelsons first opened This Is It for business in Kakaako in 2001, although the past 20 years represents just the latter half of their baking endeavors.

In 1979 the couple opened up Hawaiian Bagels, also in Kakaako, and later they opened a Manoa Marketplace location. In 1999 they sold the company to Zippy’s before opening This Is It in 2001.

Prior to that Steve Gelson was a restaurant manager at a Bloomingdale’s in his native New York but had never worked with bagels before.

But Mona, who was also working at Blooming­dale’s when they met, had him bring bagels, among other food, when they visited her family on Maui.

Gelson described himself as becoming somewhat of a go-to person for bagels for the family and joked that he should start making them.

Mona’s father said he’d help if he was ever serious about it. One day Steve Gelson called him saying he wanted to open a shop in Hawaii. But he would need to borrow some money to do so.

“There was silence. He said, ‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’ And he went and mortgaged his house to get us startup (money),” Gelson said. “That’s how it really started, with (Mona’s) folks helping us out.”

As for how they would end their time with bagels, it appeared the couple had a rough idea when they named This Is It.

“My wife thought of that one. … You can take it either way. You can take it as the bagel is ‘this is it’ — this is a real bagel. Or you could take it as ‘this is it’ — this is the end. We’re not doing it after this,” he said.

Gelson said that they’ve had longtime regular customers who are dreading the closure of the bakery. Some farewell presents from customers were sitting on the front counter Friday afternoon.

People have pre-ordered bagels by the dozen, and Gelson’s attorney is buying a freezer just to store some of the last bagels he makes.

Gelson’s thankful for their support, and said that while his business was struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic like many others were, those regular customers kept them afloat.

Shutting down This Is It wasn’t a financial decision, but a personal one.

“I’m 70 years old. It’s time to go. I’ve done this long enough,” he said. “I’m walking out of here with my health and no debt, so I’m a happy camper.”

Gelson is moving to Las Vegas in July or August to spend time with his son and help care for his young grandchildren, who he hasn’t been able to see often.

He’s also looking forward to relaxing, although he said he’s going to miss the people and weather in Hawaii.

Mona Gelson, who was born and raised on Maui, has another job and will stay in Hawaii.

A new tenant is set to start moving things into the space in mid-June. Much of the equipment for This Is It has already been sold or removed.

This Is It opens for the last time today at 7 a.m.