The Koloa Big Save Market has been through a lot in its 37 years of operation. It first opened in 1967, on the site of the old Koloa Plantation store on the corner of Koloa and Waikomo roads, as a
The Koloa Big Save Market has been through a lot in its 37 years of operation.
It first opened in 1967, on the site of the old Koloa Plantation store on the corner of Koloa and Waikomo roads, as a one-stop market featuring a snack bar.
Just three years later, in 1970, a fire destroyed it.
In 1971, the store was rebuilt on the same site, with the supermarket the focal point of the store’s next expansion, to include Ben Franklin merchandise as well as the snack bar.
Hurricanes in 1982 and 1992 couldn’t derail the Koloa Big Save Market, and the snack bar became a gathering place for the young and old, where cheeseburgers, loco mocos and ample-sized plate lunches drew crowds during breakfast, lunch, and all the hours in-between.
A laundromat built into the side of the building was for a long time the only one on the South Shore.
The store remained open over the last several months while massive interior and exterior renovations took place, and the store managers and Big Save, Inc. leaders recently celebrated the grand reopening of the Koloa store.
The new-look store has a Subway franchise, the island’s eighth, a service deli offering hot and cold foods, a sushi bar, bakery, and expanded produce section, all inside, said Gary Furugen, one of Big Save’s vice presidents.
Patrick Apilado remains store manager, and around 50 other employees keep the various counters, aisles and checkout positions staffed seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The laundromat was a casualty of the expansion and renovation.
The store telephone number remains 742-1614.
Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
