Dear Michael Tsao:
When I first visited the Kahiki Supper Club
some years ago, I was
awestruck. I knew it was recognized as the world's greatest Polynesian
"tiki" restaurant, but you can't begin to get a sense of what that
means until you go there and see it. It is majestic, authentic, and a
doorway to the past. It is the undisputed prime example of an American
institution from another era, and I want you to know that having been
able to experience it still preserved in the world today was a tearful
joy!
Operating a popular, successful, historical landmark so inspiring and
unique as to instill in men's hearts the kind of emotions described
above -- this is what you've done. It is an accomplishment that should
satisfy any man.
But despite having recently been placed on the National Register of
Historic Places, I understand this site was now sold by you to
Walgreens, who will demolish it. I also understand that you were
unwilling to nominate the building for the Columbus Register of
Historic Properties, which would guarantee its preservation. I further
understand that you did not confer with the community over the fate of
this historic property, that even your employees were not aware of
impending sale, and that you did not accept the help or support of the
many concerned individuals and organizations, both locally and
worldwide, who wanted to save it.
If these understandings are correct -- and I hope they are not -- you
have been grossly remiss in your duty as steward of this historic
site. If true, it makes an obscenity of all the elements which give
the Kahiki its historical and cultural value -- what was the Kahiki
was not the giant Tridacara clamshell sinks; the Kahiki Supper Club
was not the great Polynesian statues; it was not the gong of the
Mystery Drink; the Kahiki was not the live Islander band in Hawaiian
shirts. It was a relic of our history, and that cannot be franchised
or re-built. Once it is gone, that doorway to our past will be
closed. No more will enter.
We see that Walgreens (NYSE: WAG )
does not, in practice, abide by
their stated policy of not demolishing structures listed on the
National Registry of Historic Places. We can make this fact widely
known, although that won't bring our historic places back. We can
boycott and protest them, and all future ventures of your Kahiki
Supper Club, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSCI) who use the image of the now-closed
Kahiki on frozen microwaveable foods -- and be sure that many will,
although there are limits to boycott and protest. We can make a law to
seize historic places from the grips of their destroyers -- and we'll
try, although by the time any such legislative action might occur
it'll be too late; America will have no such places left.
Sure, corporate profiteers everywhere are doing it -- but popularity
does not make an action right. This unchecked devastation is killing
our heritage, stifling our dreams and slowly, cruelly, deadening our
people. James Kunstler made a prophesy about it which now tolls out
for Ohio, and has dire implications for us all: "A land full of
places that are not worth caring about will soon be a nation and a way
of life that is not worth defending."
If I am correct in my understanding that you sold the historical
Kahiki Supper Club in the sole interest of maximizing your shareholder
profits, you will have more dividends than expected: you will have
earned your place in history for contributing to this nightmare.
In outrage and disgust,
Kahiki Supper Club
3583 E Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43213{0119
(614) 237-5425
kahiki@kahiki.com
Here are some Walgreens investor boards for telling investors what you think: Fool.com, Raging Bull, Alta Vista, Yahoo! Finance. Please visit the Save The Kahiki website, and this page, for more information.