As our company celebrates its 63rd anniversary this week, I can’t help but think about what it must have been like on May 6th, 1948 when our founders, Irish immigrant “Sully” Sullivan and his Chinese immigrant future mother-in law, “Mama” Lau opened the doors to the first Foodland at the corner of Kapiolani and Harding Avenues in Honolulu. I’ve heard the story of that day so many times and looked at the photos so often that if I close my eyes I can almost feel the pride, excitement and gratitude that filled not only Sully and Mama, but all the staff that was present that day. Perhaps it is not surprising that those sentiments are the ones that we here at Foodland continue to feel as we celebrate 63 years of serving Hawaii.

Pride. Our sense of pride stems from the fact that we remain a local, family-owned business – one of the few remaining in a state now filled with mainland competitors of every shape and size. Perhaps more importantly, we feel pride in the people who are part of our Foodland family, people who are proud to make serving you the most important thing we do.

Excitement. The excitement we feel stems from the passion we have for what we do – the thrill of bringing in new products we know you will enjoy, the joy of knowing our customers are happy. We feel excitement for the future too – although we know we’ll face ever increasing competition – because our people are dedicated to making shopping at Foodland a great experience.

Gratitude. Perhaps this is the strongest emotion of all – a gratitude that was instilled in us by Sully -- for it stems from a deep appreciation for the community that supports us. And this sense of gratitude compels us to work hard to earn your respect and business, for we know we would not be here without you.

So as we celebrate 63 years with pride, excitement, and gratitude, we want to say “thank you for shopping with us” by inviting you to participate in our month long celebration of savings, Maika’i Double and Triple points days, and prizes.

On behalf of the entire Foodland family, Mahalo Nui Loa for making 63 wonderful years possible!