Kamoʻi Snack-n-Go on Molokaʻi has been serving up ice cream for more than three decades. The locally owned shop is the only place on the island to get a scoop, and they announced they'll be closing at the end of next month.
But right now, the shop is bustling with the after-school rush. There are nearly 40 flavors of Dave's Hawaiian Ice Cream to choose from.
"So good," commented one happy customer of her cone. "Best ice cream ever!"
The shop is owned by brothers David and Jon Mikami, whose family also runs the island's only pharmacy next door.
"It was really not just being an ice cream shop," said Kimberly Mikami Svetin, David's daughter. "It was really being part of this community, being a fun, happy place and a safe place."
She said the shop also provided important job training and employment for Molokaʻi youth.
"Over 100 high school students have worked there as their first jobs," said Mikami Svetin. "Once the pineapple fields ended, we didn't have that summer job type-venue."
She says those former employees have all gone on to give back to the island as adults.
"I think that's really a testament of the community that was created at the ice cream shop. When I look back at 31 and a half years of Kamoʻi Snack-n-Go, I look at Kamoʻi Snack-n-Go as number one, supporting our community."
The shop gave away a free ice cream scoop on your birthday every year, offered school fundraisers and hosted preschool field trips.
Mikami Svetin sat on one of the wooden benches outside the shop as she shared memories.
"If these benches could talk, the stories that were told, the talk story sessions parents had with their children," she said. "Maybe a grandmother was here on the bench with a grandchild. I'm looking down the street right now, and I've seen like 15 different groups change over, and they hang out."
She said it was a place of connection.
"We actually had a marriage where a teacher used to come in everyday to check out one of the women (who worked there), and they ended up getting married, and two of their three kids worked at Kamoʻi Snack-n-Go," Mikami Svetin laughed.
Now, she said her dad is 85 and the Mikami brothers are retiring. They considered selling the business, but opted to rent the space to a new tenant instead.
"The business is not sustainable. I would say in the last three to four years, cost of goods has just skyrocketed, and the owners have decided for the last three years not to raise prices because they just wanted the place for families to come to."
Bringing in ice cream requires a specialized frozen container on the barge.
Shipping costs, electricity and insurance rates have all gone up.
"What is this saying about our future as an island community? And it really pains me," reflected Mikami Svetin.
Rising minimum wages have also contributed.
"We all knew that the minimum wage was going to go to $18 an hour in 15 months. I think that would have been a breaking point for us anyway," she said. "$18 is quite a bit for a 15-year-old to be making at an ice cream shop. ... The minimum wage is really gonna hurt even more small businesses."
Mikami Svetin said her ʻohana will focus on keeping open Molokaʻi Drugs, which started business in 1935.
But closing Kamoʻi means the end of an era.
"We're gonna miss this place," she said. "It was more than the store for me too. Both of my sons worked here. This was their first job as well."
No matter what, for Mikami Svetin, it's all about supporting local.
"The beauty of Molokaʻi is that we have small businesses, and really important to support these small businesses."
