A recent visit to the Mystery Maui Escape Room unlocked a trove of puzzles that I’m still pondering. It began when I invited my mother, my cousin Betty, and her two adolescent grandsons to join me for a multigeneration adventure at Deron and Kit Furukawa’s establishment.

“Where’s Mystery Maui?” Betty asked.

“On Market Street, upstairs above the Public Defender’s office.”

With furrowed brows, Mom and Betty waited for more specific directions.

“Across from the little square next to Iao Theatre.”

Blank looks. I said, “The old Ikeda’s.”

“OHHH!” they exclaimed in unison. “I know right where that is!”

A few days later, we met at the old Ikeda’s and finished the Ramen Shop game with less than three minutes to spare. Later that evening, over dinner, Mom and I laughed about how we longtime locals refer to many of today’s shops and offices by their former names, often confusing folks who, even after 20 or more years, are relatively recent arrivals.

The Maui Coffee Attic is a perfect example. When owners John and Gwen Henry started hosting their coffee shop concerts several years ago, I would tell my musically inclined friends to check out “the old Hokama’s.” Fortunately, the Henrys kept the 1950s-era signpost on their establishment, so the place is easy to find, even for people who weren’t around during the heyday of Hokama’s Music and Color TV. For 40 years or so, Masa and Charlene Hokama sold vinyl records, electronic equipment, and musical instruments downstairs, along with saimin and burgers at the upstairs lunch counter, where Masa’s manual cash register still sits.

A couple of years ago, Maui No Ka Oi Magazine commissioned me to write a story about iconic Maui buildings that have been restored and given new life. I realized then, and am reminded now, that virtually all of Wailuku town has been repurposed. Many of these current establishments play as large a role in my adult life as their predecessors did in my childhood.

Rehearsing for an upcoming production by the Maui Academy of Performing Arts, I currently spend around 20 hours a week in the old National Dollar Store, which has become the MAPA studios. After our Thursday evening sessions, we sometimes stop in for karaoke at the Wai Bar, which was once Emura Jewelry. Or was it Makino Shoe Store? Maybe Clyde’s Shoes? No, that was across the street, near Palms Travel and Tommy Kono’s Maui Health Center.

See, that’s the Pandora’s box of puzzlement which now plagues me. I remember much of Market Street from my hanabata days, but not the exact locations of each shop. I can recall the scent of hair pomade emanating from Mabuhay Barber Shop and cigarette smoke from the pool hall, somewhere around today’s Wailuku Coffee Company and Green Ti.

I do know for sure that the Dragon Arts Center on Main Street, which houses Native Intelligence and Sabado Art Studio, was once the Maui Dry Goods & Grocery’s Automotive Division, strange as that sounds. I remember looking into the giant windows and wondering how they got all those shiny new cars into the showroom.

If your memory is clearer than mine, I’d love to receive your recollections, preferably from at least 40 years ago. I already know that 808 on Main used to be Main Street Bistro, but I’d like confirmation that the space originally housed Kato Dry Goods. Or Maui Bonte? My e-dress appears at the bottom of this column.

And if you’re interested in the repurposed buildings beyond Wailuku town, the MNKO article I mentioned earlier may be found online at mauimagazine.net/everything-old-is-new-again/ or in the November/December 2020 print edition.

* Kathy Collins is a radio personality (The Buzz 107.5 FM and KEWE 97.9 FM/1240 AM), storyteller, actress, emcee and freelance writer whose “Sharing Mana’o” column appears every other Wednesday. Her e-mail address is kcmaui913@gmail.com