After years of trying, Morningstar arrives and starts business

How’s this for a Kaua’i attitude from someone who hasn’t lived here for very long? Sam Morningstar, of Morningstar Refrigeration & Appliance, saw a niche for his in-home repair service, and will stay small in order for him and similar businesses to survive.

“I can see that I can take a piece of the market and not put anybody out of business, and still survive myself,” said Morningstar, who is part Pawnee Indian and, now, all Kauaian.

He and his wife are in the process of buying a home in Niumalu, after visiting the island for several years. One of the family’s cousins has married into the Eddie Robinson family of Kekaha.

“We finally made it,” Morningstar said of the effort, now successful, to move here permanently and establish his own business.

Except for his faithful companion Fifi, a large poodle, Morningstar Refrigeration & Appliance is a one-man operation, offering 24-hour, island-wide service for appliances large and small.

Morningstar holds a Hawai’i refrigeration contractor’s license (C-23726), and is in the process of getting a state license to do air-conditioning contracting as well, he said.

After owning and operating his own business in California, around San Luis Obispo, doing heating, refrigeration and appliance repair for 15 years, he decided it was time to move to Kaua’i and do the same thing.

The business offers commercial refrigeration and kitchen equipment sales and maintenance, air conditioning systems sales and service, and repair service for all major appliances.

Currently living in Kalaheo, Morningstar, who has made service calls to both the north and west areas of the island, is looking forward to the move to the more-central Lihu’e location, so that he can respond quickly and easily to calls from either end of the island, he said.

For more information, please call 332-0505, or 652-2284.