Here's Where the Kahiki Rebuild Money Went

As we all know, Michael Tsao decided not to rebuild the Kahiki restaurant. Looks like all the money to rebuild it was dumped into a new factory for the frozen food business instead....bummer :cry:

http://news.corporate.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20040504/04may2004180806.html

You know, the fact that the Kahiki is gone and will never be rebuilt is extremely sad! Never seeing the Kahiki is one of my life's great regrets............so why the hell haven't I found any of Kahiki Foods products in any supermarket in my area? If they want to make some money to finance their new production facility why don't they just sell off the sacred pieces of the Kahiki? It troubles me to think of those artifacts, that I've only read about and seen in print, wasting away in some dusty warehouse! :(

johntiki,
When I was visiting Maryland I saw their products at a grocery store in Gaithersburg! Not that that helps much. But I did see them! There is also a great Trader Joe's there.(great to me because we don't have them in Canada) Good luck with your hunt!

we saw some Kahiki brand foods at Costco in Seattle. guess i might have bought some, if it werent in such mass quantities and if there were a tiki on the box.. but alas..

I do not understand why two can not be operated simultaneously. If he wants to make frozen foods, I would think he could hire someone else to mix the MaiTais.

I also would have thought that there could bew no better advertisement than an on-going tiki mecca.

As far as I know Michael Tsao had been a manager at Trader Vic's for 10 years before he got hired to manage the Kahiki, and then finally took it over. All together he probably had been in the restaurant business for over 30 years when Walgreens came with that "offer he couldn't refuse".
I believe he is just burned out on the restaurant business, and he sees more financial security and less hassle in manufacturing food products. He had his fun, and wants to retire with a nice chunk of dow.

I am not condoning the sale and loss of the Kahiki, just pragmatically looking at the realities. That's the way the cooky crumbles, folks.

You know what's scary about this? When Bigbro was in Atlanta, a tiki friend brought an old Tiki News by and there it was in black and white saying there is no need to worry about the Kahiki ever closing because business is so good. This makes things extra scary to me because I could say the same thing about the Mai Kai. Yet, when I realy think about it, the Mai Kai could be gone some day too. Sure, they serve 1200 a night regularly. They are one of the highest grossing restaurants in the nation regularly. But... Honestly, it is run by the family. They do it well. But I have seen great things like this get ruined when someone dies. What was a proud family tradition becomes "business" or there may come internal struggles. Who knows? What's there now is absolutely the greatest, and successful, but it really could all change any time. That property alone is likely so valuable that having a restaurant there, no matter how popular, could make it easier to retire and sell than go through the hassle.

So, love your tiki bars while you can!

Swanky's got a good point here.

This is the reason that House of Tiki in Chicago closed (not that it was evn REMOTELY CLOSE to a Mai Kai or Kahiki-level establishment). Old man Ciral retired, and not one of his four offspring wanted the bar. So that was that.

Also re: Sven's Kahiki comments, what he says is 100% correct, and I have also been lead to understand that the descision to sell was also influenced by the fact that there was structural damage to the building that would have required more $$$ than was practical or possible to repair.

On 2004-05-19 08:20, Swanky wrote:

So, love your tiki bars while you can!

I'll drink to that!!!! :)

Darn that man for tearing it down!

[ Edited by: Mattfink on 2004-05-19 13:45 ]

i think kahiki might be a publicly traded "penny stock". we could always invest as a group, become major shareholders & INSIST the company do things (like open another restaurant) more to our liking:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=KSCI.PK

Holy shit, Chris- that's a brilliant idea. Wouldn't that be great? Any way to find out how many shares it would take to become majority shareholders?

There was the option of refusing Walgreen's offer, and looking for a buyer that would have continued to run the restaurant.

The repairs may have been paid for with a low or no-interest loan from the government as that is one of the few perks of being listed on the Nat'l. Register of Historic Places.

There were other ways out (and into the frozen food business) for Mr. Tsao besides cashing in with the Kahiki's destruction.

On 2004-05-19 17:59, thejab wrote:
There was the option of refusing Walgreen's offer, and looking for a buyer that would have continued to run the restaurant.

The repairs may have been paid for with a low or no-interest loan from the government as that is one of the few perks of being listed on the Nat'l. Register of Historic Places.

There were other ways out (and into the frozen food business) for Mr. Tsao besides cashing in with the Kahiki's destruction.

But he couldn't keep the Kahiki name & the goodwill the restaurant had built up over the years. He had to take the restaurant down while it was still popular to do that. Mr. Tsao promised he was reopening to keep that goodwill: “'I have almost 100 people that rely on me for their livelihood. . . I want to make sure that Kahiki lasts another 40 years. That is why we are moving,' explained Michael when asked if he would reopen." (from http://www.tikinews.com/kahiki.html) I only hope that Mr. Tsao keeps that promise, even if the plans for a chain of Kahikis falls through.

On 2004-05-19 14:10, martiki wrote:
Holy shit, Chris- that's a brilliant idea. Wouldn't that be great? Any way to find out how many shares it would take to become majority shareholders?

i called the company requesting an investor package.

i'm not sure yet, but it looks like light volume (1000 shares availabe?). thus, it might be impossible to really be a majority or even a noticeable minority. but there still may be possibility to hold sway.

i'll do some more research (fool.com, etc.) & if there's anything worth sharing, i will.

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2004-05-20 11:08 ]

On a recent visit to Columbus for the Drifters car cruise, I got the chance to meet some of the finest Tiki Feinds around (actually the first hrdcore tiki fiends) What a trip, Got to see Chisel slingers digs as well as his housmate Hoffa's, What a great bunch of folks, Cant wait to get back down there, Thanks so Much guys! You Rock!
Also got the lowdown that the Kahaki's owners were offered a peice of land by the river and still havent done a thing, So all we can do is hope and pray and offer gifts to the gods that the Kahiki will once again rise from the ashes and share its allure and magic
with us again (or for me and my wife for the first time) Till then Iwe can live vicariously with memeories and photos and knock em back at our local oasis!

walgreens is evil! they are buying at tearing down too many cool places. They tore down the coolist 1950s Baskin Robbins by my place last year. Now I hear the Parasol restaurant in Seal Beach, Ca. is in danger also.

Rustbelt: Hoffa just signed up for Hukilau. He did the artwork for last year. Great guy! There are a lot of great folks from Ohio I have met.

Someone (Otto?) here should have a personal contact on this and maybe get the ear of the owner and clue them in to things like Trader Vic's opening new locations, etc. It's time! Man, imagine that Kahiki Opening Party!

On 2004-05-21 07:16, Swanky wrote:
It's time! Man, imagine that Kahiki Opening Party!

I don't think we should hold our breath- Michael has already publicly said he has no plans to ever reopen the Kahiki restaurant :( And after all the money they just poured into a big factory, it looks like that's going to be their main (and maybe only) focus for the future.

Swanky is so right...love them while you can...I'm banking that even the Mai Kai and the Disneyland Tiki Room will be gone sooner or later :cry:

On 2004-05-21 00:34, bratmonkey68 wrote:
walgreens is evil! they are buying at tearing down too many cool places. They tore down the coolist 1950s Baskin Robbins by my place last year. Now I hear the Parasol restaurant in Seal Beach, Ca. is in danger also.

I hate Walgreen's too, but I heard that the Parasol is threatened because the owner of the shopping center it's in wants to tear it all down and start over. Is Walgreen's involved in the plan?

On 2004-05-21 07:16, Swanky wrote:
Rustbelt: Hoffa just signed up for Hukilau. He did the artwork for last year. Great guy! There are a lot of great folks from Ohio I have met.

I just had a dream featuring someone named "Hoffa". I woke up and couldn't for the life of me figure out who this person is. It was very mobster esque...I think I've been watching too much Sopranos!!

I am posting this for Jim.
There was an article in the business section of the Columbus Dispatch today titled "Kahiki Foods to use Former Restaurant Decor in New Plant". I quote:
"It's our way of preserving the Kahiki," company president Michael Tsau said. "We've been in this town for 40 years and the memory is still alive. It's very much in our hearts." The trappings of the former landmark East side Polynesion palace, including a waterfall and 20 foot tiki statues, will spice up the frozen-food manufacturing plant when it opens in July. He said that he hopes someday to open another Kahiki Restaurant, but, because another restaurant is still a dream, Tsau said many of the items in storage will decorate the exterior, lobby, showroom, and offices of the new company headquarters building. Those items include antique wood paneling, artwork, light fixtures, and a working waterfall. Some of the items will appear at the front of the factory, which is designed to mimic the exterior of the former restaurant. Inside, the plant will feature a factory outlet store. The new plant will be 120,000 sq feet (up from 22,000) and he plans to add another 100 employees (they have 125 now).

I pass by the plant every day on my way to work. I will keep you posted if I see anything interesting. I guess this is better than having everything rot away in storage.

Elise (Chisel Slinger's wife)

What is the symbol for "dropped jaw" !?

Is this a hoax? This is both sad and beautiful, horrifiyng and amusing, aggravating and surreal...which is somehow like...TIKI.

Though I am mad at the dissappearence of the Kahiki, to have a tikified food processing plant is the kind of new twist on the theme that makes Tiki so unique.

Imagine, decades from now an urban archeologist might find a discarded Kahiki Hot Sauce jar, search out the ruins of the factory and unravel the history of Tiki anew from that angle...

It is true, I read the article too. I am happy they are opening the factory outlet store, maybe they will sell some mugs or other "hard" wares in addition to the frozen foods.

I guess it saves the cost of storage to put that stuff in the mammoth plant. If the Mystery Girl would come out at lunch...

I still like Tiki Chris's idea! Put me down for a few shares.

I just corresponded with Kahiki's Alan Hoover earlier this month about their termination of the sale of their sweet & sour sauce. (Now only available with the Tempura Chicken entree.)

He did not say either way about any plans to rebuild. Very disappointing.

However...Outlet store hu? Sounds promising!

Thanks.

The Kahiki potstickers are very good for frozen food, all the supermarkets here have the eggrolls and potstickers, that's about it though. Eggrolls are ok also.

I read a press release today that said that Kahiki foods just got a $2 million credit line, and they are using the money to expand the business. The press release said the business is doing great so far and the foods are selling well.
I did see the foods at the store but the packages were huge, I dont need 500 eggrolls.

Got an E-mail today from Alice Tsao...
Aloha Michael,

The plan of reopening the Kahiki restaurant is on hold because we are concentrating in making the best Asian frozen foods that is on the market.
Mahalo,

Alice Tsao
Kahiki Foods, Inc.
3004 E. 14th Ave.
Columbus, Ohio 43219

On 2004-05-21 11:12, TikiHula wrote:
I don't think we should hold our breath- Michael has already publicly said he has no plans to ever reopen the Kahiki restaurant

Does anyone know what will happen to the Kahiki building?

For example, at some point, could someone purchase it and reopen it?

(Or am I getting my hopes up unjustifiably)

Well I guess for some reason you didnt hear that it was leveled. and there now stands a walgreens. believe you me, I saw it happen.

On 2004-06-03 20:22, chisel slinger wrote:
Well I guess for some reason you didnt hear that it was leveled. and there now stands a walgreens. believe you me, I saw it happen.

I'm stunned and horrified!

On 2004-06-03 13:34, ChefMike wrote:
The plan of reopening the Kahiki restaurant is on hold because we are concentrating in making the best Asian frozen foods that is on the market.
Mahalo,
Alice Tsao

sorry i haven't gotten back to y'all about kahiki as an investment. plan to take a more thorough look this friday or the coming monday.

however i did happen upon this article:

Kahiki Foods Announces Record Sales and Earnings

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jun 23, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Kahiki Foods (Pink Sheets: KSCI) announced today that sales for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2004 were $14,990,000 compared to last year's $9,205,000, an increase of 63%. Earnings were $676,000 compared to last year's loss of $86,000. Basic earnings per share were $0.23 compared to a loss of $.03 for the same period the previous year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.19 compared to a loss of $.03 for the year ended March 31, 2003. Basic weighted average outstanding shares were 2,968,171, compared to 2,964,888 for the same period the previous year. Fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding were 3,506,186 compared to 2,964,888 for the year ended March 31, 2003.

The increase in revenues and earnings is attributable to the company's successful launch of several new products and increased penetration in both retail and membership club stores. The company's rapid growth has been the major driver for constructing a new, state-of-the-art, 119,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Gahanna, Ohio. This facility will become operational later this summer. It will have capacity to support $75 million in sales and will enhance product quality and operational effectiveness.

In an effort to add visibility to its name in the financial community and benefit present and future shareholders, Kahiki will commence filing quarterly reports with the SEC. This will further the company's goal of obtaining a listing on the over-the-counter market, and as soon as possible, the NASDAQ Small Cap market.

Michael Tsao, president and CEO of the company, said, "Last year was our best performance year ever. We worked very hard to develop and launch many new products. Fortunately, they resonated well with consumers. We also instituted several cost reduction programs that resulted in better efficiencies. We also solidified our management team with important new hires. Obviously, we are pleased with the overall results." Tsao added, "The company is anticipating substantially higher sales and earnings for the first quarter compared to last year's first quarter." He cautioned that "chicken prices were rising rapidly and having an effect on the company's margins. The company is implementing various measures to reduce the effect of increasing costs."

[i]On 2004-06-23 19:59, Tiki Chris wrote
Kahiki Foods Announces Record Sales and Earnings
. . .
In an effort to add visibility to its name in the financial community and benefit present and future shareholders

The Kahiki quickly should purchase some land near its upcoming manufacturing plant and build another tiki mecca to increase its visibility and to Mai-Tai & dine its bigtime investors.

Have you ever looked at something and said
"man something here is just NOT right"
That is how I think when I hear the Michael Tsao story,
As it it told by the many people I have talked to about it.
Mr Tsao has passed, Kahiki curse? I don't know.

I have said it before Bill Sapp and Lee Henry made a restaurant
out of their and others souls.

Michael Tsao made MONEY.
I feel he had no love for the kahiki.

Sorry just the facts.

I have a more pragmatic view. Since Michael Tsao took the place over in the 80s, he did a fine job at keeping it alive and in good shape, just like many Asian staff members did when they took over Polynesian places from the original American owners. The white middle class owners decided to retire, just like the whole Tiki style "retired" at that time, and the hard working, frugal minded Asians were able to turn a buck even though the trend had died out.

I do not LIKE what happened to the Kahiki, for sure, but I cannot see evil in a business man taking a Million dollar offer for a business he invested a lot of work and money in. If at all, the evil lies in the Wallgreens conglomerate to ignore a National Register of Historic Places nomination and buy it to tear it down instead of going next door.

I never gave Tsao's talk of re-building a new Kahiki any weight, it just wouldn't have been the same anyway.

I cannot see evil in a business man taking a Million dollar offer for a business.
I hear that! And I agree.

But the rest of the story is what makes Mr Taso not such a white knight.
Mitch Boyce so called bought and saved the Kahiki.
Mr Tsao was brought in by Mitch to run the place.
And Mr Taso did run the place. Into the ground.
After he was done mitch just wanted out and gave him a sweet deal
on the Kahiki.
How else would Mr Taso a 25 year old kid buy a million dollar restaurant?
This is what people who knew/worked with Mr Taso told me.

They don't even own the egg roll factory any more.
And the egg roll Kahiki site makes it look like the Tasos started the Kahiki.
I just want people to remember the folks that that made the Kahiki great.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2012-09-07 06:13 ]

I talked to Michael Tsao the night before the "Bon Voyage Kahiki" party as I was helping to set up the sound system. I asked him WHY they were selling the building off and he said that there would need to be a million dollars in repairs. Most of this had to do with the plumbing throughout the entire building. The basement had already flooded a few times and you could see the damage during the final night party.

I also got the feeling that he just didn't want to keep it going anymore. He seemed tired of running the restaurant and he knew the money he would make from the Walgreen sale could be used for his frozen food business.

I do believe that he wanted to rebuild though. I have a picture of the planned "new" Kahiki that was to be located on the riverfront in Columbus. I'll dig it up and post it if you guys are interested. Plans with the city of Columbus never panned out the way he wanted and the frozen food business was taking off so why rebuild? It would take millions of dollars to try and recreate the Kahiki today and it would never be the same.

All this is water under the bridge now.

The Kahiki has been razed, the artifacts have been dispersed and all that is left are memories.

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

On 2008-09-23 06:19, Jeff Central wrote:
I have a picture of the planned "new" Kahiki that was to be located on the riverfront in Columbus. I'll dig it up and post it if you guys are interested.

Jeff, if you could post that it'd be awesome. It may be just a dream now, but it'd be nice to have some evidence of what it would've been like had it gone through.

Ladies and Gentlemen.....

The Kahiki that never was.........................

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

On 2008-09-23 06:19, Jeff Central wrote:
I asked him WHY they were selling the building off and he said that there would need to be a million dollars in repairs.

Although the Kahiki was an amazing place, what was left at the closing was a shell of it's former self.

The building was terribly run down. The carpets were totally back and filthy from wear. The terrariums were in disrepair. The bathrooms were worn out. I could go on.

Now I am not running the place down but it was obvious that the restaurant had been neglected for years. Obvious that who ever was in power just no longer cared. I hate to say it, but Tsao was probably just keeping the place going until someone made an offer.

As stated earlier, it was apparent that he and Alice were just tired of the place. The source of the money to keep a place like this running and in good repair had long since gone.

I talked with Tsao about a new site also and his response was canned. I never thought that he would open another Kahiki.

I don't slight him for his business move. It just happens.

I will say this: that August 2000 I met some of the tiki ohana that are my best tiki friends still. I still remember being there when a recorded video message from Martin Denny was play to "open" the Closing Party.

It is a good memory. Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be. A good memory.

I will say this, which is my only my opinion, the Mai Kai could be going the same way. It just takes SO MUCH to run these very large, very maintenance intensive restaurants. When the throws of people reduce to a trickle, something has to give.

Balmy regards,

Tiki Bob

[ Edited by: tikibob 2008-09-23 19:56 ]

Very well put Bob.

"I will say this, which is my only my opinion, the Mai Kai could be going the same way. It just takes SO MUCH to run these very large, very maintenance intensive restaurants".
You need to keep up on the repairs or it will all go to pot soon.

Plus I don't think he was waiting for a sale.
I think he needed to keep the Kahiki going to sell egg rolls.
It's not often that you get an offer of a million bucks for an old tiki joint.
But when you do heck you got to take it.

It's just too bad that places like these will be a thing of the past soon.
And vanilla places like Starbucks just poping up every where.

Skip: Granted, you probably talked to more Kahiki-connected folks than anyone, thanks for the info. As far as I know, Tsao, (how ever old he really was when he took over the place) was a manager at a Trader Vic's before he started working at the Kahiki.

Jeff: Very nice, cool rendering

Bob: Sad but true

On 2008-09-23 19:51, tikibob wrote:

On 2008-09-23 06:19, Jeff Central wrote:
...I will say this, which is my only my opinion, the Mai Kai could be going the same way. It just takes SO MUCH to run these very large, very maintenance intensive restaurants. When the throws of people reduce to a trickle, something has to give...

I want to happily say here that Dave Levy, the new owner of the Mai Kai is spending lots of money to renovate the place. His love of it is incredible and when we congregate there for Hukilau, we will see the difference. I am excited. I spent months thinking last Hukilsu would be my last visit to the Mai Kai and now I know what Dave is doing and it makes my heart glad. I may yet get to enjoy a cocktail there with my daughter in a few years.

Michael was no dummy.
I guess Swanky put it best when he said Daves LOVE for the Mai Kai.
I don't think the Taso's had a real LOVE for the Kahiki.
Except for now that it's gone and it's memory may help sell egg rolls.

Jeff,
Thanks for the pacture! Its an amazing piece of Tiki history...that never was!!

I found these two dishes at Safeway in Berkeley, Ca. I had never been to the Kahiki and I fiqured this would be my only chance to at least try the food. I have to say it wasn't bad, actually pretty tasty for a TV dinner.

The processed frozen food that the company cranks out is truly unremarkable at its very best. The chicken fried rice (never served in the restaurant to my memory...or from the two menus I own)contains 73% of your daily sodium intake I believe. The Kahiki processed frozen food doesn't sell well at my local Giant Eagle according to one of the managers.

Kahiki Processed Frozen Food is Kahiki in name only. The only real Kahiki food that is out there is made from the recipes (authentic or recreated from memories) of the Kahiki prepared by home cooks in their own kitchens. The company should take the name Kahiki off of their processed products and let Kahiki live on in the kitchens and home tiki bars of those who loved it (in my case mildly obsessed with it). However, they must be making big money on it but I can't imagine many people who loved the restaurant love the processed food.

Aside from home kitchens, tiki bars, and tikiphiles, there is one final link to Kahiki in Columbus. The Top Steakhouse. It is the only survivor of the three Bill Sapp and Henry Lee restaurants that remain. It is a cathedral of midcentury splendor and is going stronger than ever. As of this writing, Columbus' First Lady of Piano, Sonia Modes who played at the Kahiki in the 80s and 90s is still at the piano twice a week.