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Sweet success at 100: Komoda celebrates century of good eats

Komoda Store & Bakery to offer giveaways this week

By Melissa Tanji 8 min read

MAKAWAO -- Komoda Store & Bakery is celebrating 100 years of feeding Maui's appetite, in the beginning with breads and saimin and now with stick donuts and cream puffs that residents and visitors can't get enough of.

One hundred years in business is a feat rarely achieved by Maui's mom-and-pop stores or for any business, for that matter. The Komodas and their extended family don't know how the years added up.

"We can't believe it lasted this long," said Betty Shibuya, the granddaughter of the founders Takezo and Shigeri Komoda. She added that her ancestors would be surprised that the family has kept the business thriving for a century.

Shibuya's husband and the chief baker, Calvin Shibuya, joked that he, himself, felt like 100 years old, even though he's only 73. But his feelings are justified because Mr. Shibuya starts work at 11:30 p.m. -- just to begin the baking. He doesn't end his day until around 4 p.m. at closing time.

But he's not complaining. He said his schedule is similar to what the Komoda family endured for decades.

Even at 73, Calvin Shibuya pledges that he and his family would keep the business chugging along as long as they are able to keep churning out donuts from the old fried bread dough recipe along with butter rolls, pies and buns and other baked goods.

"I've always said we'll (be open) as long as we stay healthy," he said.

This week, the Komoda family is celebrating its milestone with the public.

The family has been giving away 100 free stick donuts to customers on a first-come, first-served basis. (The store opens at 7 a.m.) This will continue on Thursday and Friday. (The store is closed today, as usual.)

On Saturday, 300 stick donuts will be given out. At noon, there will be a performance by Zenshin Daiko, a taiko drum group. A 100th-anniversary dish towel is on sale, and customers who spend $40 get a commemorative potholder.

Nearby, the Makawao History Museum at 3643 Baldwin Ave. is hosting an exhibit based on the anniversary. It's open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except for Sundays when it opens at 11 a.m.

T. Komoda Store was founded in 1916 as a general store where the current Polli's Mexican Restaurant is on the corner of Makawao and Baldwin avenues. There was some bread baking, which later expanded to saimin and sandwiches, the family said.

In 1932, the family purchased its current spot along Baldwin Avenue. The family said it was more of a general store catering to Makawao town, selling everything from fabric, lighting fixtures and groceries.

As World War II loomed before Dec. 7, 1941, Takezo and Shigeri Komoda anticipated the loss of what they had because they were not American citizens. So, they transferred the property and business to Takeo Komoda, their oldest son and his wife, Kiyoko, who were U.S. citizens, according to Gail Ainsworth. She does research and writing for the Makawao History Museum. (Takeo and Kiyoko were Betty Shibuya's parents.) The store founders had eight children, all of whom at some point had a hand in the business.

In the early days, the family served food, such as saimin and egg sandwiches, Betty Shibuya said. But eventually that was phased out.

In 1947, Takeo Komoda's brother, Ikuo, went to baking school in Minnesota. He was the only one in the family to receive professional training. Ikuo Komoda is credited with developing the cream puff and stick donut. It was under Ikuo Komoda that Calvin Shibuya trained. He got involved in the business in the 1990s because the Komoda brothers were aging and looking for someone to take over. The family considered closing the business, Calvin Shibuya said.

Shibuya had retired from the U.S. Air Force and was contemplating a second career as a commercial pilot.

"I didn't want to see the business close," Calvin Shibuya said. He told the brothers not to close the business and stepped in to help.

"That would be a shame if the business shut down," he said.

Ainsworth called the Komoda family hardworking, though she added that is typical of mom-and-pop businesses.

"I think they were astute," she said. "They transferred their property to their son when they needed to, prior to World War II. They sent another son (Ikuo) to baking school and expanded their bakery business. They adapted to the community as it changed. As people started to shop at large grocery stores, they de-emphasized their store operation."

Indeed, the family adapted and survived the influx of large chain grocery stores, along with specialty bakeries on Maui. They still sell snacks, sodas and hot dogs, but 90 percent of the business is the bakery, Calvin Shibuya said.

The Komoda homestyle and handmade pastries are a favorite to generations of Maui residents.

On Tuesday, Shaun Lyons was in the store, a place she had been to as a kid, and now a grandmother.

Lyons, born to the Baldwin family who lived at Haleakala Ranch, remembers how her parents made her sit on a scale next to the front doors as others went shopping. Lyons remembers her family buying groceries and other necessities on credit at the store and paying a monthly bill. There were no plastic credit cards then.

"It was so convenient," she remembers.

At one point the Komoda family also had a grocery delivery service, which in some places was common.

"I think it's so fantastic," Lyons said of the centennial. "I love all the Komodas and the Komoda family."

On Tuesday, Lyons was buying some hamburger buns and a Chantilly cake her 46-year-old son loves. This time, the cake was for her grandson (her son's son), who was celebrating his 5th birthday on Tuesday.

"This is a great place," she said.

Customer satisfaction and enthusiasm for Komoda's baked goods drive Calvin Shibuya and the rest of the family to work  before sunup and until almost sundown daily.

Typically, Calvin Shibuya starts at 11:30 p.m. making coconut Danish and turnovers. Around an hour later, he begins the mixes for the bread and the soft moist butter rolls and cinnamon rolls.

His daughter, Michele Shibuya, is learning the trade and helps her father cut the glob of dough for the butter rolls. Then with a spatula, the butter is spread and, by hand, sugar is sprinkled on the rolls.

Two other employees begin their day at 1:30 a.m. to help with the baking.

Usually around 2:30 a.m., Calvin Shibuya begins his work on the stick donuts. Typically, around 100 dozen are made every day. On weekends that number doubles.

All by hand, the donuts are put on sticks.

Shibuya said the only mechanical appliances the bakery has is a mixer and a dough cutter and shaper for their hamburger and hot dog buns. The cutter and shaper are new additions, maybe put in around 10 years ago.

Shibuya said the contraption cut down on 75 percent of the time he and others put in to make the buns. Previously, it involved cutting the dough and putting in on a scale.

Asked why he doesn't automate more of his equipment to help with the baking, Shibuya says the way it is now, "this is the only way I know."

When the Komoda brothers were living and working in the 1980s and 1990s, the bakery was churning out 100 to 150 dozen cream puffs a day. These days, Shibuya makes around 75 dozen as the main baker. But the cream puffs shells are still made one by one and placed onto pans with ice cream scoopers.

Shibuya had hoped that Ikuo Komoda, the chief baker, could have lived to see the 100th anniversary, but he died last year at the age of 86. His mother-in-law, Kiyoko Komoda died in August at the age of 95.

Michele Shibuya said her grandmother, Kiyoko, was a fixture at the bakery and even in her senior years was still at the Makawao business putting together pastry boxes.

Early in the morning when the baking is done and the bakery opens, Calvin Shibuya continues to work as his wife and daughter and others handle the retail operations.

By mid-morning, Calvin Shibuya is making the cream for the cream puffs and long Johns, all to start the process for the next day.

"At the end of the day, if everything goes well. It's very rewarding," Shibuya said.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

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