Small stature is not necessarily a disadvantage. Okinawan immigrant Zempan Arakawa found an opportunity in it.

Arakawa grew up in Onaha village, Okinawa, the second son in the family. "The first son had to remain and take care of the family," but Zempan "came to Waipahu at age 19 to seek his fortune and to avoid conscription in the army," said his youngest son, Goro Arakawa.

Weighing in at only 96 pounds, Zempan was too small to cut cane. Instead, he was assigned the job of water boy for the larger plantation workers at the Oahu Sugar Co.

"Arakawa got to know all the workers and what they needed," said marketing maven Julie Percell. "He ran errands for them. This understanding proved useful when he went into retail a few years later."

He took sewing lessons and learned to make work clothes and kau kau (food) bags as a sideline. "He was moonlighting," Goro said. "In 1909 there was a long strike by the Japanese workers and strikers (who) were kicked out of plantation housing. His five-year contract was up. He didn’t want to go back and didn’t."

In 1909 Arakawa and his wife, Tsuru (Ruth), opened their first store, Arakawa Shoten, on Waipahu Street. They sold kau kau bags and sewn tabi (footwear). The kau kau bags, containing the workers’ lunch, were carried into the field. Soon thereafter he expanded into clothing for the workers and dresses for the women.

His understanding of worker needs helped steer him into the general merchandise business. He made tabi and moved the string from the middle to the side for a more comfortable fit next to the big toe. Goro remembered sewing them like crazy as a kid.

"Dad popularized palaka. It wasn’t invented in Hawaii but he made it famous. Originally blue and white — woven, not printed — we carried 15 different colors and five or six styles."

Reporter Susan Kim called palaka the "pattern of the islands." Palaka is the Hawaiian transliteration for "frock," which is an outer garment, according to the late University of Hawaii English professor Alfons Korn.

The country store became well known for the friendliness of its staff and for having everything a home needed. Furniture, appliances, kitchenware, toys, sporting goods, sundries, clothing and dry goods would hang from the ceiling and walls and clutter the aisles.

One of the store’s slogans was "if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you’ll find it at Arakawa’s."

Arakawa’s was the first to brand Waipahu, and add "historic" to Depot Road.

"Our logo and advertisements all said ‘Waipahu’ under our name," Goro continued. "Our identity was tied to Waipahu. When people thought of Waipahu they thought of Arakawa’s. We had many opportunities to open stores in Kapahulu and Kalihi, but we always decided to stay where we were.

"A nephew had a tape recording of animal sounds, and one was of a rooster," Goro recalled. "I felt it conveyed that country feeling we embodied, so we used it in all our radio and TV ads. ‘Arakawa’s on historic Depot Road … cock-a-doodle-doo … in Waipahu,’ we’d say. It was attention-getting. People would smile and joke. We’d say, ‘When we crow … it pays to listen.’"

Arakawa’s even had rooster-crowing contests live on KCCN radio from its parking lot. "People would come out in rooster costumes and compete for prizes. A haole nun from Canada won one year," Goro recalled. "A Portuguese guy was so good, we used him in the ads. Everyone thought it was a real rooster."

Zempan retired in 1955. Four of his sons (Kazuo, Takemi, Shigemi and Goro) and two of his daughters (Leatrice and Joan), plus their husbands (Sei Kaneshiro and Horace Taba) took over.

The family closed the store in 1995 after 85 years in business. "We saw the handwriting on the wall," Goro said. "Walmart and Costco were changing the retail landscape. We were all in our 70s, and retail is a younger person’s game."

Karla Brom of the Rainbow Collection said, "Arakawa’s closed with dignity and style. It was a very well-planned and classy event."

"Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t tell me how much they miss Arakawa’s," Goro, 89, said.

Hundreds of years from now, people will trace their roots to the issei (first-generation Japanese emigrants) who moved to Hawaii and worked the plantations. On Oahu, Arakawa’s will always be an integral part of that story.

Bob Sigall, author of the "Companies We Keep" books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@yahoo.com.