diff --git a/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/AbstractHazelcastStore.java b/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/AbstractHazelcastStore.java
index 29af33a..ff9f43a 100644
--- a/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/AbstractHazelcastStore.java
+++ b/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/AbstractHazelcastStore.java
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
 import org.onlab.onos.event.Event;
 import org.onlab.onos.store.AbstractStore;
 import org.onlab.onos.store.StoreDelegate;
-import org.onlab.onos.store.serializers.KryoSerializationService;
+import org.onlab.onos.store.serializers.KryoSerializer;
+import org.onlab.onos.store.serializers.Serializer;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@
 /**
  * Abstraction of a distributed store based on Hazelcast.
  */
-@Component(componentAbstract = true)
+@Component
 public abstract class AbstractHazelcastStore<E extends Event, D extends StoreDelegate<E>>
         extends AbstractStore<E, D> {
 
@@ -33,13 +34,13 @@
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
     protected StoreService storeService;
 
-    @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
-    protected KryoSerializationService kryoSerializationService;
+    protected Serializer serializer;
 
     protected HazelcastInstance theInstance;
 
     @Activate
     public void activate() {
+        serializer = new KryoSerializer();
         theInstance = storeService.getHazelcastInstance();
     }
 
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@
      * @return serialized object
      */
     protected byte[] serialize(Object obj) {
-        return kryoSerializationService.encode(obj);
+        return serializer.encode(obj);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@
      * @return deserialized object
      */
     protected <T> T deserialize(byte[] bytes) {
-        return kryoSerializationService.decode(bytes);
+        return serializer.decode(bytes);
     }
 
 
diff --git a/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/OptionalCacheLoader.java b/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/OptionalCacheLoader.java
index 2629e2d..6631594 100644
--- a/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/OptionalCacheLoader.java
+++ b/core/store/hz/common/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/common/OptionalCacheLoader.java
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
 
-import org.onlab.onos.store.serializers.KryoSerializationService;
+import org.onlab.onos.store.serializers.Serializer;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Optional;
 import com.google.common.cache.CacheLoader;
@@ -18,28 +18,28 @@
 public final class OptionalCacheLoader<K, V> extends
         CacheLoader<K, Optional<V>> {
 
-    private final KryoSerializationService kryoSerializationService;
+    private final Serializer serializer;
     private IMap<byte[], byte[]> rawMap;
 
     /**
      * Constructor.
      *
-     * @param kryoSerializationService to use for serialization
+     * @param serializer to use for serialization
      * @param rawMap underlying IMap
      */
-    public OptionalCacheLoader(KryoSerializationService kryoSerializationService, IMap<byte[], byte[]> rawMap) {
-        this.kryoSerializationService = checkNotNull(kryoSerializationService);
+    public OptionalCacheLoader(Serializer serializer, IMap<byte[], byte[]> rawMap) {
+        this.serializer = checkNotNull(serializer);
         this.rawMap = checkNotNull(rawMap);
     }
 
     @Override
     public Optional<V> load(K key) throws Exception {
-        byte[] keyBytes = kryoSerializationService.encode(key);
+        byte[] keyBytes = serializer.encode(key);
         byte[] valBytes = rawMap.get(keyBytes);
         if (valBytes == null) {
             return Optional.absent();
         }
-        V dev = kryoSerializationService.decode(valBytes);
+        V dev = serializer.decode(valBytes);
         return Optional.of(dev);
     }
 }