Floored by Miracles
A son of Waialua chicken farmers, David Arita grows American Carpet One into Hawaii’s largest flooring company, and out of gratitude volunteers with the Salvation Army, where he says miracles happen daily
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From humble beginnings, David Arita is today one of Hawaii’s most successful businessmen, and Friday he will be honored by the Salvation Army for years of service
There are a million stories in our city about folks with a heart for community service. This is another one.
But it’s worth reading because we cleverly weave into it some insights about the carpet and flooring business.
That’s not to take away from our subject’s well-deserved recognition for his charitable work. It’s just when you’ve got the town’s most successful carpet merchant in the room, it’s hard not to ask about his business.
We put David K. Arita, president of American Carpet One, on the spot. He prefers not to talk about himself as much as he wants to focus on the “miracles” he has seen at the Salvation Army. We tell him that his leadership at American Carpet One directly influences what he’s able to contribute and accomplish in community service.
Once convinced of that, he was very forthcoming about his platform for business and social responsibility. He swept nothing under the carpet.
After years of working in the background to help the mission of the Salvation Army, Arita will step into the spotlight March 13 at the Salvation Army’s Partners in Community Service awards luncheon in the Ala Moana Hotel Hibiscus Ballroom.
There, surrounded by grateful stakeholders, he will be presented the award for being the Salvation Army’s Outstanding Corporate Partner. Other honorees are the Women’s Auxiliary of Honolulu as well as Joe and Shirley Recca as Outstanding Volunteers. Don Horner, president-CEO of First Hawaiian Bank, is keynote speaker.
Arita’s involvement with the Salvation Army goes back nearly two decades when his carpet company was contracted to install new flooring at the adult rehabilitation center in Iwilei. It was Arita’s first encounter with the work of the Salvation Army in human crisis intervention, adult rehabilitation and returning downtrodden individuals to a life of productivity and dignity.
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“I was impressed with the program,” Arita recalls. “Up to that moment, I never knew much about the Salvation Army except red kettles at Christmas and thrift stores. I didn’t know it was a Christian organization that helps so many people in the community.”
Soon he found himself recruited to be a member of the charity’s advisory council. From there he gradually moved to leadership as co-chair and chairman of the council. He also serves on the Divisional Command’s advisory board.
Arita was thus able to tap both his spiritual nature and management abilities to support the Salvation Army.
For him, this was not corporate window-dressing.
“I learned that if you want to experience God, you must step out of your comfort zone and join an organization where you can witness miracles happen,” he says.
“Miracles” is Arita’s description for overcoming major challenges or testing the limits of human resolve.
He counts among the Salvation Army’s “miracles” the way the organization exercised “brute patience” over two years to acquire property for its Kailua thrift store. Today, the former Coronet Store site on Kailua Road is the Salvation Army’s biggest store with the highest sales volume.
Then there’s the “miracle” of establishing a 38-year tradition of feeding thousands of families on Thanksgiving Day. He marvels at how more than 100 private businesses donate supplies and food, how entertainers share their talent and more than 800 volunteers mobilize a well-orchestrated event. No one is turned away from the holiday meal.
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The miracles Arita has witnessed also include the charity’s mobile canteen that materialized one day and a grant from the estate of Joan Kroc of McDonald’s fame that spurred the dream of a multimillion-dollar community center in Kapolei.
Many hands and hearts are at work making these things happen, according to Arita. He says humbly, “I’m just doing my job. I’m not going out of my way to do anything extraordinary. The greatest resource we share is time and ideas.
“Through organizations like the Salvation Army, one is able to touch many lives in a big way,” he adds.
During a downturn, human capital is as essential as the monetary. Arita is one man representing many who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other compassionate souls to build up society’s human capital.
That work ethic comes from hard-working parents.
“My parents had a chicken farm in Waialua,” Arita says. “When you work on a farm, you work seven days a week. There is no difference on Saturday or Sunday.”
Hard work was the first lesson from his parents. Second was the golden rule of business. “If you’re going to run a business, you’ve got to have honesty and integrity in what you do,” says Arita.
The third lesson? “I learned I didn’t want to be a chicken farmer.”
Arita, a Saint Louis graduate (‘65), went to the University of Hawaii to study engineering. After graduation, he gave engineering a try, but 10 months later realized it wasn’t for him.
“I realized selling carpet was a lot easier than building build-
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