LIHU‘E — At the end of its regular business hours Saturday, Garden Island Motorsports closed — for good. There were no signs in the windows or anywhere else informing shoppers about the sudden closing. Nor were previous customers informed, leaving
LIHU‘E — At the end of its regular business hours Saturday, Garden Island Motorsports closed — for good.
There were no signs in the windows or anywhere else informing shoppers about the sudden closing. Nor were previous customers informed, leaving some of them wondering if their store warranties are now obsolete.
When asked why the store was permanently closing without a warning, store general manager Ron Victorino declined to comment Saturday.
Most unsold items will be bought by a private party, said Victorino, for a new store whose location and opening time he knew nothing about.
While nobody working at the Rice Street store Saturday would elaborate on the turn of events, one employee who wished to remain anonymous said the news came as a big surprise.
“I’m unemployed. We’ll see … I wanted to start my own business anyway,” the worker said.
While Victorino would not say when he was told about the closing, the store’s answering machine lists new hours starting July 1, and makes no mention of the upcoming closure.
The now-defunct company relocated from Kapa’a to Lihu‘e a year ago. It seemed to be the perfect store for motorsports enthusiasts, claiming on its website that “Garden Island Motorsports is your one-stop shop for all your powersports needs.”
The owner of Garden Island Motorsports is Charles King. King also is president of King Auto Center in Lihu‘e and principal dealer at King Windward Nissan and King Infiniti of Honolulu.
King was not available for comment. He is currently on the Mainland and should be back in two weeks, according to Victorino.
• Laurent Canalejas, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 241) or lcanalejas@thegardenisland.com
