By Craig Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Joyce Cordeiro and her brother, Keith, look at
Christmas ornaments at Liberty House. They were
with their mother at the Ala Moana Mall store.
Retailers dreamin’
of a green Christmas
Isle merchants hope the
By Peter Wagner
busy shopping day brings
them holiday cheer
Star-BulletinHONOLULU retailers are decking their halls for a Christmas season they hope will brighten a doleful year.
Some are planning an all-night blitz. Others are offering gifts, discounts, and prizes for tomorrow's expected rush.
But if the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, marks the start of Christmas, few merchants are waiting for the green flag.
"Everybody's advertising so we wanted to get our name out there earlier," said Mandy Horst, part owner of Island Treasures of Hawaii, a gift shop at Kahala Mall. The store began advertising last month and featured a live radio broadcast from its store last week .
"Anything to draw attention to the store," said Horst, who last year counted nearly 45 percent of annual sales during the holiday season. Many retailers say they expect Christmas and Hanukkah to bring 20 to 30 percent of yearly profits.
With so much at stake, "pre-holiday" promotions have been tugging at wallets for weeks.
At Victoria Ward Centers, the holiday began two weeks ago with a shopping spree for the Junior League of Honolulu.
"We have a lot of dynamite things happening here for the holiday season," said Valery O'Brien, director of marketing at Victoria Ward, Ltd.
Events include the arrival of Santa with a marching band and mounted police officers this weekend.
Victoria Ward also hopes to attract customers with a snowman contest, exhibits, entertainment, and free gift-wrapping through the season.
Mindful that "pre-holiday" sales can wear on shoppers, the company has tied its events to charity this year, with proceeds earmarked for groups including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Honolulu Food Bank and Catholic Charities.
Liberty House on Sunday held a "black tie" shopping event at its Ala Moana Center store, drawing thousands of charge customers to discounts, gifts and entertainment after the store closed to other customers.
"We're very encouraged by the turnout," said Barbara Tunno, vice president of marketing at Liberty House.
But behind the hype and hope are some hard numbers.
Bankruptcies, foreclosures, and layoffs have been skyrocketing in Hawaii in recent years as the state remains in a prolonged economic slump.
Statewide retail revenues through September were down 5 percent, totaling $11.194 billion compared with $11.799 last year, according to the state Deartment of Taxation.
"Business has been down this year and you're not going to make it up over Christmas," said Jan Ber-man, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii. "The good part is people do spend more over Christmas, so you do get a stronger retail picture."
Adding a degree of difficulty, she said, were the recent state elections, which can cool spending among disappointed voters.
"It's subliminal and not quantifiable, but it does affect people," she said.
By Craig Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Sales clerk Gary Duarte works on Christmas trees
yesterday at Liberty House in Ala Moana Mall.
Retail analyst Stephany Sofos notes that consumers have more choices than they did 10 years ago because of "big box" discounters and internet shopping malls."People are buying all year long, so Christmas is not such a big deal," she said.
Mall operators, meanwhile, have been watching sales sag for the past two years.
At Ala Moana Center, which had a 22 percent drop in September, manager Dwight Yoshimura is nonetheless hopeful.
"We hope to make up or gain some ground and make the best of it as we close the year," said Yoshimura, senior vice president of General Growth Management of Hawaii, which runs the Ala Moana Center. He said merchants at the center generate 20 to 30 percent of annual sales in holiday season.
But Yoshimura sees no point in jumping the gun on Christmas.
"The trend on the mainland is kicking off Christmas two weeks earlier than we do," he said.
"We find people do their hardest shopping during December."
In contrast to Hawaii's somber mood, mainland retailers are dressing up for a big Christmas season this year.
Buoyed by a strong economy, consumer confidence rose in November, rebounding from an 18-month low a month earlier, as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the third time in two months and the Dow Jones industrial average surged 20 percent over 45 days.
In Hawaii, retailer Pat Banning is approaching her first Christmas as part-owner of BookEnds at the Kailua Shopping Center.
"Holiday sales for the book business are pretty important, probably 25 percent of total sales," she said.
"I don't know what to expect, but I'm thinking we'll do reasonably well."
At Bikefactory Sportshop on Ala Moana Boulevard, owner Wally Parcels expects a jump in December sales.
"It's one of the top three or four months of the year for us," he said.
"It probably represents 20 percent of sales."
But Parcels, whose business has grown 30 percent in the past year, is not big on hype.
"If you haven't done your job the rest of the year you can have all the coupons in the world and it isn't going to help," he said. "Our number one draw is word of mouth."
Meanwhile, at Island Treasures, Horst is apprehensive about the fabled Christmas rush.
"Last Christmas was very good, but we didn't start booming until Dec. 10," she said.
"This year is probably going to be even worse. We're finding that times are very hard and people are holding onto their money."
