November 2009 Independent Dealer Article

By Jim Rapp

The following invitation went out to all customers: “You are cordially invited to celebrate Hawaii Stationery’s 60th anniversary at the Hawaii Prince Hotel in Waikiki. A HollywoodPremiere, where YOU are the star!”.

“‘You are the star’ pretty much sums up the secret of our success. The key is friendly, personalized service. It’s our code of honor”, says Stacy Sakata, the third-generation operator of this highly successful family business. Sakata sings the praises of his people. “Our number one goal is taking care of our customers and we have highly competent and capable employees who do just that. Some of our employees have been with us for 40-plus years and they are just as involved and proactive today as the day they started with us. We consider our employees part of our extended family and they return the gesture by taking care of the business first and foremost. We are very lucky to have this bond in an era where employment and benefits are scarce. ” He also points out that taking care of customers is not a simple task. “We promise next day delivery to almost all of our customers, including those accounts located on the neighboring islands! This is quite a feat considering that we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where shipments from the mainland may take many days or even weeks to arrive.

“Because we carry a large inventory, we are able to give better service than our competitors”, he explains. “We currently stock more than 25,000 SKUs. This explains our motto, ‘If it exists, we’ll deliver it.’ “Obtaining products was a lot more difficult when my grandfather, Shizuto Sakata, started the business in 1949, selling bookkeeping forms. My father Wilbert came into the business several years later and added office supplies to the mix.”

Hawaii Stationery is now the state’s leading, locally owned independent office supply dealer. They’re minority-owned, with a wide base of customers from small business to large commercial and government accounts. In addition, they do fulfillment work for national and regional contracts through the AOPD dealer network. They’re located in one of the most beautiful areas anywhere on the island, in the old sugar mill town of Aiea, on the southern coast of Oahu where over one million people reside. The company is well-known for its involvement with numerous charitable organizations and provides school supplies for needy children as far away as Afghanistan, where they are enthusiastic supporters of the Marine Corps and its humanitarian efforts with local schools. At the end of my interview, Stacy Sakata said, “Tell the readers that a lot of our success is due to the fine relationships we have with manufacturers, wholesalers, dealer groups and their representatives. And we can’t forget the wonderful customers who are not only our friends, but a part of our family too. After all, they are the reason we are still successful after all these years.”