WAILUKU, Hawaii — On Aug. 8, David Yamashiro, his wife Ululani, and his 90-year-old father evacuated their home in Kula, but luckily the Upcountry fire spared their house. Busy evacuating, they had no idea a wildfire was spreading through Lahaina, and burning down two shave ice shops and a warehouse the Yamashiros owned.
The Yamashiros started Ululani's Shave Ice in Dec. 2008, with their first shop on Front Street in Lahaina. Since then, the store has expanded to have six locations on Maui, a store on Oahu, a store on Hawaii Island, two stores in California and a store in Texas.
Talking with Spectrum News Hawaii on Sept. 6 at Ululani’s Shave Ice in Wailuku, David Yamashiro pulled out his phone and asked, “Siri, what is the best shave ice in the world?”
“I found this on the web,” replied Siri, pulling up a webpage that features Ululani's Shave Ice.
Yamashiro is proud that people love the shave ice made at Ululani’s. However, he beamed when talking about how meaningful it is that so many people have created fond memories at their shops.
Losing two shave ice shops and a warehouse
In Lahaina, the Yamashiro’s main shave ice shop was at the northern end of Front Street. They also opened a second shop on Front Street near the famous Banyan tree. Luckily, no one was in the two Front Street shave ice shops when the fire spread through Lahaina. A power outage earlier in the day had forced the Yamashiros to close.
“Nothing could replace our Lahaina shops,” said Yamashiro. “The amount of volume we did was tremendous.”
Inside the Yamshiro’s burned-down warehouse were five commercial ice machines, an ultra-purified water system, materials to make syrups, dry goods for toppings, and many freezers and refrigerators. Yamashiro said they have another warehouse in Kahului, which has allowed them to continue to make shave ice in their four remaining Maui locations.
Shortly after the fire, Maui County officials made the Lahaina burn zone off-limits, so Yamashiro hasn’t seen his fire-ravaged shave ice shops in person. However, he looked at before-and-after images in the San Francisco Gate, and he could see that the shops and warehouse were gone.
“There’s a huge feeling of loss,” said Yamashiro. “It’s like that was our first baby.”
Fundraising for employees
Despite his losses, Yamashiro is steadfast in recognizing that it is worse for many others who lost their homes and loved ones.
“A lot of our employees lost their homes, everything they own, and pretty much everything they know, so it’s no comparison,” said Yamashiro. “Our hearts just go out to the people that lost their loved ones.”
Ululani’s Shave Ice employs more than 100 people. Yamashiro said all of their employees survived the fire, but one employee had two family members who died in the blaze and about 15 employees lost their homes.
“We're doing whatever we can to bring normalcy back into their lives,” said Yamashiro.
The Yamashiros started a fundraiser on GoFundMe, which has raised over $170,000, with 75% of the funds going to their employees. The rest is going to Lahaina families either directly or through organizations like the Gift of Giving Hawaii Foundation.
In order to distribute the funds to employees, Yamashiro made a spreadsheet with a set of five criteria: lost their home, lost their car, lost all their belongings, full or part time at Ululani’s Shave Ice, and length of time working at Ululani’s Shave Ice. Depending on the severity of their losses and time spent working at Ululani’s, Yamashiro distributed checks to employees ranging from $1,200 to $11,000. Yamashiro still has more than $50,000 from the GoFundMe he plans to give out.
Yamashiro listed the many things he thought displaced Lahaina residents might use the funds for: rent, a car, furniture, computer, toiletries, clothes and therapy. He said it was important to acknowledge needs range from basic necessities to mental health care.
After the fires, he said one of Ululani’s Lahaina employees picked up a shift at their Paia location. On her drive there, she started crying. She called Yamashiro, who tried to comfort her. She was still living in a Red Cross shelter and in shock after losing her home. He said other employees “come off as being strong, but something is not right with them.” He encouraged everyone to go to counseling.
Reeling from the loss of tourism in Maui
The Yamashiros are suffering from two economic losses: the destruction of their shave ice shops and warehouse in Lahaina, and the loss of customers at their remaining locations because of the decrease in tourism on Maui.
After the fires, the numbers of visitors on the island dropped by about 75%, according to a report by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization. On average, the daily spending of a Maui visitor was $270, which adds up to a loss of revenue of more than $13 million per day.
“When the fire happened, they got a lot of the tourists off the island… people that were coming in, they told them ‘don’t come,’” said Yamashiro. “That created a totally different issue.”
Ululani’s Shave Ice’s four remaining stores on Maui now have about 70% less business than before the fires, according to Yamashiro.
Employees at the four remaining shops generously gave up some of their shifts so Lahaina employees could work them. However, with the loss in business, Yamashiro said it is hard to keep everyone on the payroll.
In the four weeks since the fire, there have been more than 10,000 unemployment benefits claims filed in Maui County, according to UHERO. Unemployment increased for multiple reasons: Lahaina businesses were destroyed, West Maui hotels are not operating, and tourism-related businesses across Maui are struggling with the drop in visitors.
“Lahaina is still closed, but the rest of Maui needs visitors in order for us to survive,” said Yamashiro.
Ululani’s Shave Ice can “absorb a little” of the losses, said Yamashiro, but he is concerned he may have to lay off employees if tourists don’t return to Maui soon. The UHERO report predicted that tourists will begin to return to Maui, but it will take years to reach pre-fire visitor numbers.
Still, Yamashiro is relieved that the GoFundMe fundraiser has helped employees, especially as many of them need to focus on recovery efforts.
“Our goal is to help long term,” said Yamashiro.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.