Story By: Shannon
Wianecki Photo By: PF Bentley
In 1935, Richard Sakata
caught a pineapple barge to Moloka‘i
and became the island’s first pharmacist. He settled in, married a Maui girl
and started a business that has been taking the island’s pulse for eighty years
and counting. Moloka‘i Drugs is Hawai‘i’s oldest independent family-owned
pharmacy—a beloved institution that satisfies the community’s needs and wants.
“There aren’t too many
places like this anymore,” says Kimberly Mikami Svetin, the president of
Moloka‘i Drugs and one of Sakata’s granddaughters. “We’re like an old-fashioned
general store. We gift wrap any gift, whether it’s a candy bar or something
bigger.”
The Kaunakakai drugstore
carries local necessities: watch batteries, nail polish, needles for stringing
lei, waterproof bandages, red wallets for good luck in Las Vegas and—of
course—an inventory of lifesaving medications. “Amazon and Walmart are our competitors
for goods that can be mail ordered,” says Svetin. “But when you need medicine,
you can’t wait a week for it.”
Svetin’s grandfather was
the quintessential rural pharmacist. He counted pills by hand, made house calls
and ran tabs for plantation workers. Svetin’s father stepped up as the second
pharmacist in 1969, followed by her uncle and sister. The other employees might
as well be family. Frank Maniago, for instance, has worked for Moloka‘i Drugs
since his junior year in high school. He delivers medical equipment, such as
hospital beds, sets it up for the customers and makes sure everything works
before he leaves. “My father hired Frank in 1988, two days before Christmas
Eve,” says Svetin. “He’s been with our store since then.”
The family’s generosity
might have something to do with their success. They donated space for
Moloka‘i’s first dialysis center so that patients would no longer have to fly
off-island for treatment. They’ve never charged for use of the ballpark they
own in the center of Kaunakakai, and last year they bought a new fourteen-seat
school bus for Molokai High School.
In 1995, the family
branched out, opening Kamoi Snack-n-Go, where kids line up for lilikoi or ube
(purple sweet potato) ice cream served in freshly baked waffle cones. Judging
by a recent Facebook post, the snack shop is just as attentive to Islanders’
needs as the pharmacy. “In anticipation of the hurricane season,” the post
reads, “we ordered extra ice cream.”
molokaidrugs.com |