>[!ALERT] Honolulu/Oahu Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1930-2015 [List of chain grocers in Honolulu and Oahu between 1930 and 1984](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/174mmgaFqQMpK9K8vxpGPnsfIGjcI-KLau1hTiJJuFyo/edit#gid=751877680) # Henry May & Company > Henry May and Company opened its doors in 1854, the earliest known business in Honolulu to deal exclusively in groceries, all of which in the early years were imported from Britain. The groceteria portion of the shopping center was torn down in 1963 to make way for the branch building of First Hawaiian Bank and the Islands' first Safeway store. Supplanting the local food store by the second-largest supermarket chain in the United States all too well reflected an emerging trend of the post-statehood years. > [source](https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/HI-01-OA96) https://www.google.com/books/edition/1820_1920_Centenary_Number/sT4iSvTnvFsC?hl=en&gbpv=0 >[!example]- **HENRY MAY & CO** ***First in Time - First in Popularity*** > SIXTY FIVE years ago Samuel Savidge and Henry May met in a little building adjoining the Bethel Reading Room to shape the foundations of the business today known as Henry May & Co Ltd. Their license to do business bears date of May 3 1855, and their first advertisement appearing in the Polynesian of May 5 1855 calls attention to a new method of roasting coffee giving excellent flavor and quality. > THE HAWAIIAN ANNUAL published by Mr Thos. G Thrum has the following item in the edition of 1915: > During the summer of 1855 was established the first real grocery concern here by experienced tradesmen in the arrival by way of San Francisco of Messrs Samuel Savidge and Henry May. Upon the receipt of their stock from England shortly after, they opened in May on King street near Bethel, and with their complete assortment of European groceries and oilsmen's stores inaugurated a new method of coffee roast ing the fame of which is a good trade mark to the house of H May & Co their corporate successors today. > HENRY MAY & CO LTD are now one of the largest wholesale and retail grocers in the Islands. Their establishment, on Fort Street between King and Hotel Streets is situated in the very heart of the retail shopping district of Honolulu. On February 17 1920 the company opened the handsomest soda fountain tea room and confectionery store in the Territory, directly adjoining their modern retail grocery department and connecting with it by an archway. > MANY ORIGINAL IDEAS make this tea room "just a little different." The fountain is in absolute charge of skilled white dispensers. > AMERICAN-BORN INTELLIGENT Chinese maids serve the customers. They are uniformed in their native costumes, which harmonize with the glowing decorative scheme of the room. Chinese boys with an English education do the cleaning. > BESIDES SODA AND cold drinks the hot service dispenses tea, coffee, chocolate and cocoa, with tea biscuits. A confectionery counter handles high grade chocolates in fancy boxes. > A VANITY ROOM appropriately furnished with toilet arrangements ministers to the comforts of tired shoppers. > THE DEPARTMENT OPENS AT 8 AM and closes at 11 PM > Henry May & Company Limited > GROCERS AND COFFEE ROASTERS  ------ ## 1850s > Henry May and Company opened its doors in 1854, the earliest known business in Honolulu to deal exclusively in groceries, all of which in the early years were imported from Britain. [source](https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/HI-01-OA96) ### 1855 > “In the summer of 1855, Samuel Savidge and Henry May established "the first real grocery concern here by experienced tradesmen" and were "the first to start a grocery store of any size worth speaking of." Later renamed H. May & Co. and then May's Market, this store initially was located on King Street near the Bethel but in subsequent years was shifted to Fort Street and finally to South Beretania at Pensacola. It closed in January 1956.12” [@schmitt_1980, p. 2] > In early [**May 1855**](http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015408/1855-05-19/ed-1/seq-3/ocr/) Samuel Savidge and Henry May founded [**Savidge & May's**](http://www.mocavo.com/Hawaiian-Almanac-and-Annual-for-1915/832703/68). It was Hawaii’s first large grocery store. Savidge and May’s offered an assortment of American, Australian and European groceries. The store also inaugurated a new method of coffee roasting and offered Kona Coffee for export.  The store was later renamed Henry May & Company. > [source](http://www.ililani.media/2014/10/hawaiian-electric-company-bayonet.html) https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015408/1855-05-19/ed-1/seq-3/ >TO HEADS OF FAMILIES, AND THE PUBLIC GENERALLY. MESSRS. SAVIDGE & MAY, having opened a new store, situated on King street, near the Bethel, with a new and well assorted stock of Groceries, of their own selection and importation, respectfully beg to solicit the patronage of those desirous of purchasing first class articles at the lowest remunerating prices. The following comprise a portion of their stock : English Pie Fruits, Jams, Pickles, Sauces, French Capers, Oysters, Lobsters, &t., in great variety. Scented Soaps, Macassar Oil, and fashionable Perfumes. A large quantity of Confectionery, in fancy bottles. Durham Mustard, Pepper, fine Table Salt in jar, Malt and Raspberry Vinegars, Dried Apples, Loaf and Raw Sugar. 100,000 prime old Cigars, well worthy the attention ofdealers and large consumers. Finest Oolong and other Teas. TO LOVERS OF COFFEE, *as it should be*. The proprietors beg to call especial attention to this article, being roasted on a new and scientific principle, whereby the acidity is destroyed, and the rich aromatic flavor preserved. N. B. English Hams, Bacon. Cheese and Lard, expected shortly. Honolulu, May 5, 1855. 52-3m\* ### 1857 Fresh corn we notice is beginning to come in. The samples we have seen are very fine. Those who are fond of corn meal will find good article at Savidge & May's. No meal has been obtainable here for several months, while corals equally sought for, for horse feed. [source](https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/a266f0b6-01d9-4ec9-b19d-b673678ed976/content) ### 1859 Henry May & Company takes over C. Brewer & Company building and operates it as a grocery store > [!example]- [A HISTORY OF C BREWER & COMPANY LTD](https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_C_Brewer_Company_Limited/wyAEAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Henry%20May%22) > This substantial building was the center about which the business was conducted until 1859 when C Brewer & Company moved down to the waterfront The old stone building was then taken over by Henry May as a grocery store The reader will recall that this building was erected on the site purchased by Hunnewell in 1826 In the inventory made on the formation of the partnership this area with its houses and equipment was proudly termed the establishment In order to present graphically the simplicity of store furnishings in those days and the equipment necessary to conduct a business that reached out to the far corners of the world and which was carried on by those far removed from their native surroundings we reproduce this inventory on another page Please note the demijons the pistols and the sword  https://books.google.com/books/content?id=wyAEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA36-IA2&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&bul=1&sig=ACfU3U3ZELjAzpqMca9KT5AuTYgYRO0VKw&ci=152%2C212%2C798%2C1000&edge=0  ## 1870s ### 1876 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hawaiian-gazette-henry-may-co-sell/131897967/  ### 1877 List of imported goods by ship and origin https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hawaiian-gazette-henry-may-co-lis/131918185/ ## 1880s  ## 1890s ### 1894 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-honolulu-advertiser-henry-may-co-c/131896419/  https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-honolulu-advertiser-henry-may-co-w/131896521/  ### 1897 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hawaiian-star-sam-savidge-henry-may/131896634/  https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-bulletin-henry-may-company-p/131896741/  Hawaiian Coffee Trade - H May & Co selling Kona Coffee to SF firm Schilling & Company [source](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hawaiian-star-hawaiian-coffee-trade/131898121/) >[!example]- Story: HAWAIIAN COFFEE TRADE >LARGE SAN FRANCISCO HOUSE MAKING HEAVY PURCHASES. > >Their Representative interviewed on the Subject --- A Coffee Inspector Should Be Appointed. > >There is every assurance that Hawaiian coffee will find a ready sale in the wholesale markets of San Francisco. The big firm of Schilling Company, of that city, is now endeavoring to establish a coffee trade be tween the islands and the Pacific Coast. >This firm now has a representative Honolulu in the person of Mr. W. H. Baugh, who is working to accomplish this end. Within the past month Schilling Company have purchased nearly 500 bags of coffee from H. May Company and other coffee plantations. >In speaking of Hawaiian coffee, Mr. Baugh has much of interest to tell. >"Kona coffee, began Mr. Baugh this morning, "has been coming Into San Francisco in small lots as well as from the various other coffee ranches on the Islands, for several years past. >Most of this coffee has been sent to San Francisco in such conditions as not to obtain the highest favor for the merit which is actually due inch a splendid coffee. This is due, perhaps, to the fact that the coffee growers on the islands have not supplied themselves with the proper machinery for cleaning, separating and polishing, which is a necessary preparation to develop the highest favor with the coffee dealers handling it. This, in turn, for the reason perhaps that the amount of Kona coffee raised upon the islands is enough to justify them in the expense and attention required to handle it. >"The California fruit people, until more recently, made the same mistake in respect to handling their fruits in the Eastern markets and have set about with a vim to correct their mistake, for they have found that the sale and appreciation of California fruits depend almost entirely on the quality, which alone is preserved by proper grading and care in shipping. >"Now the Kona coffee is to the Hawaiian Islands what the fruit industry is to California, and as Emerson well says: "It should be worked for all there is in it." When a country has as good a thing as the meritorious Kona coffee, the public spirit of the parties interested in it should make the most of it. >"It would be of great advantage to the Kona coffee interests if there were appointed for the port a coffee inspector whose special business it would be to see that no coffee was shipped from the islands except in the proper grade, quality and condition. This would do more than anything that could be done to get the coffee before the people of the States in a proper and lasting favor. This being done the balance of the way would be smooth sailing. For no coffee connoisseur who has ever tasted well prepared Kona coffee would desire to drink anything else. It would be like drinking in the methological Spring of Rome, having tasted it, there is a desire to turn To it again. >"Another suggestion, since you ask for such, shippers of coffee should should see to it that all sacks containing Hawaiian coffee are so "marked" that there could be no question as to shipper. Of about 400 bags of coffee shipped from Honolulu to the Coast of five different lots and bought at my suggestion this month by the house which I represent in San Francisco, I was able to trace but two lots. With a little attention this fault could be remedied." >"I make no mistake when I say that there is a demand In the States, particularly on the Pacific Coast, for Kona coffee, wherever it has been used. In the first place it carries its own strength, style and flavor, which is sufficient without the aid of any other coffee, and in a blend with the Costa Rica, Java, even Guatemala, its parent seed, it produces a superb effect." Henry May & Company received a full supply of ice house fruit and vegetables, ex Australia. [source](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hawaiian-star-henry-may-company-re/131896831/) Henry May & Company Limited formed by consolidating Henry May & Company, [J. T. Waterhouse](https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/john-thomas-waterhouse/), and H.E. McIntyre & Bros. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hawaiian-star-henry-may-company-me/131896917/  ## 1900s >**Oahu Rice Mill Co.; to Henry May & Co., Ltd. >Certificate of Mortgage >May 29, 1909** >Know all men by these presents that we, Ching Shai, Yuen Poy Kan, Ching Yuen Cheong, Ching Hong Pau, doing business under the firm name and style of the Oahu Rice Mill Company, a copartnership of Honolulu… parties of the first part for securing the sums of money hereinafter mentioned, and in consideration of the sum of One Dollar ($1) to us paid by Henry May and Company, Limited… party of the second part, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge, have bargained, sold, granted and conveyed, and by these presents do… convey unto the said party of the second part all of the following property, to-wit: > >1. All of the crop of rice now growing or which shall at any time hereafter up to and including the 31st day of December 1909, be growing in or upon the rice plantation of Yuen Poi Kan at Punaluu on the Island of Oahu, the estimated yield of which is 1500 bags of rice paddy of 100 lbs. per bag, the same having been assigned and conveyed to the said parties of the first part by bill of sale of Ching Shai, Yuen Poy Kan, and Ching Hung Yai to said parties of the first part dated May 28, 1909. > >2. All of the crop of rice now growing on or which shall at any time hereafter up to and including the 31st day of December 1909 be growing on or about the rice plantation of Ching Hung Yai at Punaluu… the estimated yield of which is 1500 bags of rice paddy of 100 lbs. per bag, the same having been assigned and conveyed to the said parties of the first part by bill of sale of Ching Shai, Yuen Poy Kan and Ching Hung Yai to said parties of the first part dated May 28, 1909… > >Now the condition of this sale is whereas, the party of the second part has agreed and by these presents doth agree to make advances of moneys from time to time to the parties of the first part not to exceed in gross at any one time the sum of Four Thousand Dollars ($4000.00)… > >If the parties of the first part… shall well and truly pay or cause to be paid to the party of the second part… upon demand all the sums due or so to become due to the party of the second part on or before December 31, 1909, then this conveyance shall be void… (BoC Liber 314:271-274) >[source](https://www.kumupono.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/He_Wahi_Moolelo_no_Punaluu.pdf) >We didn't have to shop. We had the Chinese man who took the milk to the Dairymen's Association and he would stop with my mother's list to pick up the groceries. We had a charge account and my father went in once a month to pay the bill. We also had an account at Metropolitan Meat Market and at Henry May and Company, which was a huge retail and wholesale grocery shop in the Boston Building on Fort Street where the Watumulls' Leilani Shop is now. >[source](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/77119235.pdf) >In Hawaii, the low cost of food when we came to the Islands amazed us most. Some of it was cheaper than in Scotland. We could get a great big bunch of bananas for a dime and a whole hand of them for a quarter, a pound of meat for twenty-five cents--the best Hawaiian beef from the Hawaii Meat Company. We first bought there, then at Yee Hop and Company. > >We had a huge vegetable garden and my mother had a yardman but it was such a nuisance because, for our family, they grew so fast and became so rank in no time that she gave up on it. She even quit having the yardman, except to cut the grass, because he spent so much time on it and everything grew so rank. We could buy them fairly reason~ able then at Yee Hop and Company. > >We didn't have to shop. We had the Chinese man who took the milk to the Dairymen's Association and he would stop with my mother's list to pick up the groceries. We had a charge account and my father went in once a month to pay the bill. We also had an account at Metropolitan Meat Market and at Henry May and Company, which was a huge retail and wholesale grocery shop in the Boston Building on Fort Street where the Watumulls' Leilani Shop is now. ## 1910s Coffee and Rice exporter >Mr Clarence H Matson Letter from Raymond C Brown Secretary of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce Honolulu Hawaii October 25 1916 HAWAII HONOLULU Secretary and Traffic Manager Board of Harbor Commissioners Los Angeles California Dear Sir At a meeting of our Trade Commercial and Industrial Development Committee held this date the opinion was expressed that the only commodities to be developed in the Los Angeles trade are coffee pineapples rice and honey Our sugars which is our largest crop are all contracted for We have in addition to the above mentioned output some smaller crops which are yet in their infancy such as tobacco and sisal I would suggest if you are interested in the articles above mentioned that you open correspondence with the following houses Coffee H Hackfeld and Company Theo H Davies and Company Henry May and Company Hind Rolph and Company Pineapples Hawaiian Pineapple Packers Association Rice Henry May and Company H Hackfeld and Company Honey H Hackfeld and Company Fred L Waldron Company Limited It may be of assistance to you to have a list of the larger firms of Honolulu and the commodities in which they deal and this I am furnishing on a separate list herewith enclosed Very truly yours Signed RAYMOND C BROWN Secretary 62 THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES [source](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Port_of_Los_Angeles/iZDVAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Henry+May+and+Company%22&pg=PA62&printsec=frontcover)  See @young_2016 for piggly wiggly in Hawaii. @starbulletin_1918 for example of In 1916, The first Piggly Wiggly, the then innovative cash-and-carry approach to grocery shopping was created in Memphis Tennessee. In 1919, ## 1920s @chapman.unitedstates_1927 > At least one large grocery retailer, operating several stores in Honolulu, buys direct from mainland wholesalers, and it is likely that this practice will be extended as retail organizations of the islands develop. > Chapman, E. A. & United States. (1927). _Hawaii: Its Resources and Trade_. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011398946](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011398946) May's Groceteria opens in 1929 > The earliest known shopping center in Hawaii was May’s (1929) (Photo 4-33), which was situated on either side of Pensacola Street between Beretania and Young streets, and was indeed the progenitor of this section of Pensacola Street. The Ewa part of the Spanish Mission style shopping center designed by Ralph Fishbourne still runs along Pensacola, but the Diamond Head side, which included May’s Groceteria, was demolished in 1963 to make way for Hawaii’s first Safeway store and a branch of First Hawaiian Bank. Despite the presence of this very early shopping complex, most of Hawaii’s shopping centers and malls appeared in the post-war period. > [source](https://www.funghawaii.com/assets/hawaiimodernismcontextstudy_nov2011.pdf) [source 1](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-honolulu-advertiser-maysshoppingc/78556625/) > Located at Beretania street and the Pensacola Extension, Henry May & Co. one of the oldest grocery firms in Honolulu, responsible for the construction of these modem buildings. (image caption) > >**May's Groceteria Opening Set For Tomorrow Morning; To Carry Meat, Vegetables** > >Honolulu's business Is extending towards the west! > Keeping step with progress and modern business methods, Henry May Co. Ltd, one of the oldest grocery concerns in Honolulu will open its cash and carry groceteria and meat market in May's Shopping Center on Pensacola and Beretania street tomorrow morning at 7:30. While the old delivery system will be maintained at the Fort street store until further notice all business at the Shopping Center will be carried on along the cash and carry plan. > >"In opening this store at' May's Shopping Center we feel that Henry May % Co. Ltd. is filling long felt want of our patrons, for" store In this part of Honolulu," George manager of the concern said. > >"The need for ample parking facilities in the vicinity of a market is also met in our new location." > >The grocery department, according to an announcement by Bustard will be managed by William A. Lorrimer. Everything is in readiness for the service which will be inaugurated tomorrow morning Lorrimer declared. Groceries have been arranged on shelves so that patrons may be served quickly and easily. In addition to other products a complete line of nationally advertised goods and staple products will be displayed. C. H. Wechsler, assisted by Don Trucanor, will have charge of the meat department, where the very finest beef, pork, lamb, mutton and fowl will be sold. > >Jack Dimond is to have the supervision of the vegetable and fruit department where fresh foods from California and Island markets will be on sale. > >In January, 1927, Henry May Co. purchased property from the Hawaiian Electric and W. C. Parke in order to build a branch store that would be convenient for patrons living in Makiki, Punahou. Manoa, Kaimuki. and Waikiki. It was also the plan to allow enough of the property for parking facilities. > >Pensacola street was extended by them and shops built on both sides of the extension. Elaborate parking facilities both in front and back of May's Cash and Carry Groceteria have been arranged so that customers will be able to park their automobiles quickly and easily. > >Henry May Co. Ltd, which is one of the oldest and best known grocery firms in Honolulu was opened some 75 years ago by Henry May and Samuel Savidge. At that time it dealt exclusively groceries. They also handled coffee and established a roasting plant in connection with the regular grocery business, which made May's Kona Coffee famous. > >The company is well-known for its faithful service and the steps it has taken to meet public demands for quality. And now the concern is giving to the public a "Cash and Carry" store, situated in a district where many of their patrons are located. > >The Pensacola extension with its buildings on both sides of the street is an attractive addition to this section of the city will be known as May's Shopping Center, J. L. Young was the engineer for the construction of the buildings there; Ralph Fishbourne the architect: Hurd, Pohlman furnished and executed the interior decorations and the von Hamm Young Co. installed the electrical refrigerator in May's groceteria. The Hawaiian Electric Co. did the wiring and the Electric Shop furnished the large electric Neon sign. [Source 2](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-honolulu-advertiser-mays-shopping-c/78556434/) [[Piggly Wiggly]] establishes in Honolulu in 1928 ## 1940s - Supermarkets >The first supermarket in Hawaii appears to have been the Manoa Woodlawn Super Market at 2928 East Manoa Road, Honolulu. Plans announced on March 24, 1946 called for a $65,000 market and drug store in a 6,600-square foot building, a service station, and parking for 75 automobiles, all occupying a one-acre site immediately makai of the East Manoa bridge.¹³ > >This pioneering effort was followed by the Kapiolani Super Market, opened at 1015 Kapiolani Boulevard, Honolulu, on October 27, 1947 and announced by advertisements boasting of its self-service, central checkout system, and 16,000 square feet of parking. Next came the first Foodland Super Market, opened at Market City, Kapiolani Boulevard and Harding Avenue, in May 1948.¹⁴ > >When the 1947-48 city directory was published in 1947, only one retail grocery (Manoa-Woodlawn) was described as a "supermarket," but by the time the next edition was issued in 1949 there were seven: Crown, Foodland, Kapiolani, Kim's, Manoa-Woodlawn, Times, and U-Save Commissary.15 >[@schmitt_1980, p. 2] ## 1960s > The earliest known shopping center in Hawaii was May’s (1929) (Photo 4-33), which was situated on either side of Pensacola Street between Beretania and Young streets, and was indeed the progenitor of this section of Pensacola Street. The Ewa part of the Spanish Mission style shopping center designed by Ralph Fishbourne still runs along Pensacola, but ==the Diamond Head side, which included May’s Groceteria, was demolished in 1963 to make way for Hawaii’s first Safeway store== and a branch of First Hawaiian Bank. Despite the presence of this very early shopping complex, most of Hawaii’s shopping centers and malls appeared in the post-war period. > [source](https://www.funghawaii.com/assets/hawaiimodernismcontextstudy_nov2011.pdf)