Daily Archives: December 10, 2009

I attended the Hawaii Plantation Village Annual Christmas Party at the Hawaii Plantation Village in Waipahu on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 from 5:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. I talked to a number of old friends and met some new ones. I met a lady Yoko who worked at Duty Free Shoppers (DFS) Hawaii from 1969 to 2000. One day in 1969, she walked into the DFS store in Waikiki and was looking for a job. She met my grandpa Maurice Karamatsu and he told her, “If you want, you can work here now.” She was surprised that he was hiring her on the spot without a formal appointment or interview. She replied, “Now? I could work tomorrow.” She worked for DFS the very next day.  She spent a year at the DFS Waikiki store and the next thirty years at its airport stores.