An interisland business merger has produced a new home design center and showroom in Kihei, Maui.
Miyake - HPM Building Supply’s new operation features home product displays for homeowners and contractors. It's HPM's fifth Home Design Center and the first on Maui.
The center at 369 Huku Lii Place off Ohukai Road officially opened to the public on Nov. 5. The staff includes a new kitchen and bath designer for customer consultation, and window and door specialists are also expected to be available in the future.
"We felt it was really important to have a place where customers could come in touch, feel, and see the products for their respective projects," Miyake - HPM Building Supply Maui Regional Manager Gary Danzl said. "Our showroom really, in my way of thinking, was created to allow our customers to come in by themselves, or with their consultants, their contractors and their family to collaborate using our facility."
It comes two years after Big Island-based HPM acquired Maui-based Miyake.
Danzl has been with HPM for 5 years and previously worked for the company in Kona. He had not been part of a merger before.
“It's been a very encouraging process for me, learning about how other folks are doing things," Danzl told HPR. "What we shared, what overlapping similarities we had. ... The cultural alignment piece was and is an ongoing piece of our development. So if I had to summarize up the merger, I would say it is going great. There's so much to be encouraged about here, there's tremendous opportunity, and we're really just getting started.”
Danzl says HPM has concentrated its efforts on renovating its retail spaces and building out its infrastructure on Maui.
That meant renovating the interiors of the Miyake locations in Kihei, Lahaina, Makawao and Wailuku. For instance, in Lahaina, the company installed power bins, which provide more holding space for lumber. This allows customers in West Maui to only stop at one location instead of driving to other locations or stores.
The company also acquired A-O Raingutters and Supplies, and it purchased a base yard in Maui’s Central Valley to supply materials for contractors, such as milled lumber. Miyake previously used an intermediary for lumber but HPM can buy direct.
"We were looking at some of the projects on island that are in various stages of development: workforce housing, affordable housing, spec homes, there's four or five major projects underway," Danzl said. "And to be able to be a key material supplier on that, we knew that we were going to have to acquire some additional property, to give us greater holding power."
