<Begin Segment 46>

RW: Wanted to ask you a little bit about your growth years. You were running the Greenwood site, and what led to the expansion, to...?

KO: Well, we felt it was, we had more business than we could handle out of this location, so it was either we relocate and expand, or try to take over an existing greenhouse. And yeah, things for some reason have fallen into place for us along the way. This other place became available and they were, here again, quite willing to take a chance on us. We've been there about fifteen or eighteen years. So we're running two places as well as my brother's place now.

RW: So a total of three greenhouse sites?

KO: That's correct.

RW: And the other place that you purchased from the family?

KO: From the Iwasakis. And that -- Mr. Iwasaki, he was another hard-headed like my dad. He practically ran that place like it was his kingdom or something. But anyway, he lived to be about ninety-eight years old. He wanted to keep that place also -- as a going greenhouse because he had quite a bit of land there, and I'm sure he could have gotten rid of it. But we happened to be there at the right time, and worked out for us. We just have one payment to make on that place and that's ours. [Laughs]

RW: Wow. And that's in Renton?

KO: Skyway area of Renton.

RW: Skyway area? And the name of that?

KO: Bryn Mawr Greenhouse.

RW: And then Hod, your brother's place is...?

KO: Valley View.

RW: Valley View. Okay. So all together, how much greenhouse space do you think you control?

KO: Well I would say 70 or 80,000 square feet. Whatever that comes out to in acres. And then we have some open land, too. But in the grand scheme of things, that's just an average size operation. It's bigger than some, and quite a bit smaller than some of the bigger places that have gone in recently. And that size is beginning to hurt us a little bit, because we can't go out after those big mass market customers. And so, we have to work hard to maintain our niche in the industry. So far I think we're okay, but who knows how long that's going to be.

AI: Could you say a little bit more about what your niche is these days? What is it that kind of sets you apart.

KO: Well we have people who are willing to pay a little more for quality plants. And that's something that, well that's one of the things that we wanted to try to do, going back to what was happening -- not that Columbia was growing inferior plants, but we felt that if we tried harder we could grow better material. And because of it, we've been able to hold our customer base through thick and thin. But whether that's going to be enough to sustain us from now on is the big question. Because, one of our customers is a chain that is growing by leaps and bounds. And while we can only handle part of the business now, it's getting smaller and smaller because we are too small to supply them. It's maybe the way that a lot of small businesses go -- we're just gonna' be aced out someday. Hopefully not, but we'll see.

RW: Big change from family-run businesses to corporate style business.

KO: That's right. There are big, big, big operations in the area now, and some of it came from other parts of the country buying in.

<End Segment 46> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.