Courtesy of Bess Press
Mini slippers were made by Off the Bottom especially
to promote the book.
All cashed up,
know where to go?
'Ultimate shopper' does
By Burl Burlingame
the legwork for you
Star-BulletinIn "Field of Dreams," the mantra was "If you build it, they will come." The average shop owner's dream, however, is -- if you sell it, they will come.
These are the sorts of thoughts that come to mind while looking at "Ultimate Shopper -- The Local's Handbook To The Most Unique Shopping On O'ahu," a recent collaboration between Book publisher Bess Press and FXproductions, an "image development company."
The book features 100 Oahu specialty shops, not only what's for sale and how to find them, but profiles of the store creators. Invariably, the shops seem to be extensions of the owner's dreams, craftsmanships or hobbies.
In a capitalist society, the private retailer has climbed the mountain of opportunity and reached the peak.
The trick is staying there.
"We originally had 101 stores, but one went out of business as we were going to press," sighed Hugh O'Reilly, FXproductions president. "The economy isn't good in Hawaii at the moment. But when we selected these establishments, we went for those that were solid or had vowed to stay in business no matter what. That's the kind of attitude we like. It's about soul more than anything else."
This is FXproductions' first book. O'Reilly, who grew up here but spent most of his adult life in Europe, returned several years ago so that his children can grow up in Hawaii, too. "We're a sort of marketing company, but not a traditional one. Image is very important to selling a product, and the majority of our clients who believe that are Europeans. We've also produced pages of Hawaii images for the Hawaii visitors bureau for fashion and travel magazines."
One of the striking things about "Ultimate Shopper" is its packaging. The stores, no matter how tiny, are photographed with lush lighting, while the owners and operators are shot with the same care and high spirits afforded high-fashion models.
Courtesy of Bess Press
Ann Namba Designs caters to celebrities like Aretha
Franklin and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The graphics are a kind of retro '50s, Jetsons groove. "We're blessed we're living in the '90s, when kids and adults think the same things are cool," said O'Reilly. "Clean and classic graphics have a cross-generational appeal. Our art director used to work at Bloomingdale's."The spark for the project was "watching Arakawa's in Waipahu go belly-up," said O'Reilly. "I felt guilty because I never got to take my own kid there. A piece of Hawaii -- at least my Hawaii -- disappeared along with Arakawa's."
O'Reilly learned that the number-one visitor attraction is actually shopping and began thinking about a guide to Oahu stores. "Give a little background, directions to get there, what they have. Tips and resources," said O'Reilly. "But not a guide where to get shoes for $14.95. A guide to what's unique about shopping on Oahu, the smaller, individual shops. An anti-Gap movement. Buying local doesn't have to be a compromise."
Accordingly, FXproductions produced and printed the book locally, even though local printing costs are higher. "We can't tell people to buy local and then print the bloody thing in Hong Kong. Wouldn't be right," said O'Reilly. The stores in the book kicked in up to $2,000 apiece for a three-
year run -- "It's not really buying ads. It's more of a partnership" -- and the book is already available at these shops. It is in the process of being distributed to other outlets via regular book-distribution channels; a glitch on the rear-cover bar-code temporarily kept it out bookstores.
"We're already having people come in and say they saw us in the book," said seller Timisha Wharton at Off The Bottom, a custom-footwear shop in Haleiwa. "They're using the book as a guide when the visit the North Shore."
At Anne Namba Designs in Manoa, which in any book would qualify as a unique and out-of-the-way boutique, "we had a couple come in who were regular visitors to Hawaii but had never run across any of these shops. They had stumbled across the book," said business manager David Cassidy. "They made a list of the top 15 shops that interested them and hit them all in a couple of days.
"These are exactly the sort of customers we're trying to reach. We're really happy with the quality of the book and hope visitors have access to it. I think the concierge in every hotel should have one handy."
A Japanese-language edition will be ready in a couple of weeks, half of which have already been pre-ordered. O'Reilly is counting on book distributors to get it into the hands of incoming tourists.
"I didn't want it to be a coupon book. We'll be updating it constantly, printing in small runs" -- 10,000 a time in each language -- "and we're in the process of doing one for Maui and two for Los Angeles. We wanted to avoid Hawaii cliches as well -- the palm trees and sunsets and beaches, the kinds of things that pigeon-hole rather than expand our notion of what Hawaii's all about."
"Ultimate Shopper" book premiere, signing and auction will benefit Parents and Children Together (PACT) and the Micro Enterprise Development Program, which helps small businesses get off the ground. There will also be a live and silent auction, music, pupus, 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 28 at Aloha Tower Marketplace. Information: 847-3285. Book signing
