They are excited about the new branch opening in Island Gourmet Markets in the Queen’s Marketplace in the Waikoloa resort and are giving us ideas of what it should include. They like having a large selection of our various product lines available as display samples for mail orders or for purchase. Many live where bonsai supplies are just not available and they like the idea of one day having bonsai display stands, tools, pots, etc. But most of all they like the idea of scheduled workshops to recommend to their friends who are planning visits to the Big Island!  Earlier this year, an agreement was reached and plans are in progress!

           The Big Island is becoming the premium Hawaii State destination! Visitors tend to stay longer and have the highest number of repeat visits to this largest island that is larger than all other Hawaiian islands combined.  The Big Island is known for warm hospitality and a slower pace that remind old-time visitors of what Waikiki was in the 1950's and 1960's.  But as the last Hawaiian island to be developed, we've learned from what happened on the other islands.

          The local residents are much more involved and refuse to allow the Big Island to become a tourist trap!  There are more bed and breakfasts on the Big Island and visitors get candid recommendations of genuine places to visit and how to avoid rip-offs.  There's a full range of accommodations from clean and modest to the ritziest high-end exclusive places! You'll get what you pay for but the entire Big Island focuses on providing good value.  From the 1980's Fuku-Bonsai has been amongst the leaders of the Big Island residents involved in the visitor industry.  But for defective Benlate contaminated with weed killers that was sprayed in 1989, we would today be hosting the 17-acre Fuku-Bonsai Center in upper Keauhou-Kona.

            As we continued our recovery, we were urged to re-establish a presence in West Hawaii and Waikoloa was the ideal region.  We kept an eye on Island Gourmet Markets ever since we heard that KTA Super Stores was a part of it.  So when our recovery allowed us to accept additional outlets in 2009, KTA and Island Gourmet Markets were invited. 

            The Hawaii Tourism Authority and Hawaii County Department of Research and Development have a "County Product Enrichment Program (CPEP)" to develop new cultural activities for both Big Island residents and visitors and in 2009, Fuku-Bonsai and Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation received an award to host Introductory Workshops at the Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center in Kurtistown that were overwhelmingly successful!  By giving hundreds of workshops we continued to improve our presentations, the components of the workshop package,  and the instruction sheet. 

            The Introductory Workshop Package was a major goal since I began teaching bonsai as a last minute substitute teacher in Honolulu in the 1960's.  Then there was very little information or suitable plants available.  Success soared after I wrote a handbook and Myrtle supplied prepared stock from her backyard nursery.  This was the start of Fuku-Bonsai.  We we moved to the Big Island to become an export nursery,  the goal shifted to growing the most durable successful houseplant bonsai. 

            We began growing Dwarf Schefflera since it was first introduced in the early 1970's but were only able to grow smaller bonsai since the late 1990's.  Research continued and each year since we've improved and mastered the art of creating exceptional prepared bonsai stock that has a lot of character within one inch of the soil line and a complex root system within half inch of that soil line.  This 1 1/2" is the most important and all of our products begin with that stock and this explains the very large improvement in quality of all Fuku-Bonsai products.  It also makes possible the Introductory Workshop Package.