TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Tough times or no,
Winners' list
isle Retail Merchants
group honors its own
Hawaii's $17.3 billion retail industry is feeling the economic impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but members of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii paused yesterday for its annual conference, themed "The Great Retail Adventure." Members also honored fellow retailers and their employees with annual Hookela Awards.Mike Windsor, president and CEO of InterPacific Hawaii Retail Group Ltd. was named Hawaii's Retailer of the Year. The company owns and operates 17 McInerny stores in the islands.
"I've been around almost 50 years. I've won table tennis, snooker, golf and cricket," he said, "and this is the first time (I've won anything) in business so that must tell you something."
More seriously, he said, "I'm actually very flattered because this is from my peers here. It's something I really appreciate."
For the past two years Windsor has been the Retail Merchants' chairman of the board, and is a member of other boards of directors, including the Manoa Valley Theater, the Waikiki Business Improvement District and is an ex-officio board member of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.McInerny, once a fixture in Hawaii's malls and shopping centers, faded away along with other store brands it absorbed over the years, such as Andrade and Carol & Mary. McInerny refocused on the visitor market.
"We're trying to bring back a little of the local market with a kamaaina discount," Windsor said. "Fifteen percent off regular or sale (prices), and that isn't maybe as well-known as it should be."
"We kind of got away from the local market but we're quite promotional now, we're making a big effort," he said.
Windsor addressed audience members concerned about the local market's direction after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Everybody needs to get together in real partnerships, not just talk about it," he said. "Landlords, tenants, hotels -- who often are the landlords -- I think that's the message. Maybe this is the time when that finally happens, because if it doesn't happen this time it never will."Two awards were presented in the Retailer Employee of the Year category. Hookela Awards were given to Kamuela Potter, retail director of Crazy Shirts Inc.; and to Kathy Wong, Louis Vuitton Waikiki Store Manager.
For more than six of her 19 years in retail, Potter has overseen daily operations of Crazy Shirt's 26 retail locations in Hawaii and Guam and three factory outlets on Oahu. She's credited with being a key player in developing Crazy Shirts' new Wholesale Division, which has placed merchandise in numerous locations in the Pacific and aboard cruise ships.
Potter said it was an honor just to be nominated. The recognition "is not just for one person, but the team. It's not about individuality but the team effort put forth by any company," she said.
Kathy Wong, the other retailer employee of the year, also has 19 years in the retail industry and joined her company six years ago as the manager of Louis Vuitton's Ala Moana store. Promoted 18 months ago to manage the Waikiki Global Store, she leads 80 employees.
Blue Ginger Designs Ltd., founded on Maui in 1983 by Rebecca Erickson, Jill Mackie and their grandmother Nola Hayden, won the Hookela for Resort Business of the Year. The company operates six stores offering garments and accessories made from the owners' exclusive fabric designs. Sales growth is estimated at 20 percent annually, and employees are offered monthly training to stay atop the industry.
Neighborhood Retailer of the Year is Kalapawai Market, of Kailua. Established in 1932, Don Dymond acquired the business in 1991 from Richard and Elsie Wong.Dymond's exterior preservation has made the store an icon ripe for merchandising via logo-wear and accessories such as refrigerator magnets. Interior renovation has facilitated expanded retail offerings including freshly brewed coffee, a wine department and deli section.
Dymond is also the co-owner, with Therisa Owens, of two Zia's Caffe locations in Kailua and Kaneohe.
Each major island also boasts a retailer of the year.
On the Big Island, the Retail Business of the Year is Hilo's Fabric Impressions, which sells fabrics, notions, sewing machines and its own line of handcrafted tote bags, quilts and gifts. Established by three partners in 1987 the store recently moved to Kamehameha Avenue, a more visible location. It is now operated by Tammara Hasselfeld and Mary Pierson after co-founder Rita Bacher moved to the mainland a year after the store opened.
Maui's winner of Retail Business of the Year is Ka Honu Gift Gallery, originally known in 1967 as "The Wood Shop." The store changed its name and its location, to Whalers Village, in 1970. It is now the longest-standing retail tenant in the complex, still specializing in wood carvings, other hand crafts and arts from the South Pacific. It also still employs many original staffers.
Otsuka Sales & Service was honored as Kauai's Retailer of the Year. Founded in 1935 by brothers Wallace Y. and Jay J. Otsuka, the store is the largest furniture and appliance store on the Garden Island. It started out as a Studebaker dealership.
Since the death of the founders in 1999, the company has been led by Jeanette Otsuka-Chang, Wallace Otsuka's daughter. Rapid change ensued, including a showroom redesign, a new warehouse outlet and an e-commerce Web site.
The Oahu Retailer of the Year award was presented to Pacific Harley-Davidson Inc., owned and operated by Joseph P. Nicloai. The company's first retail boutique opened in 1991 under Cycle City Ltd. at a shop off Kalakaua Avenue. The original store moved to its present location in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, and expansion led to locations in the Hilton Hawaiian Village Alii Tower and Ala Moana Center.
The Governor's Hookela Award is a special acknowledgment of a retailer exhibiting exemplary dedication and or contribution to Hawaii's retail industry.
Normally presented to an individual, the panel of judges this year decided the award should be shared by Bob Coe and DFS Hawaii, where he serves as president. The company this year opened DFS Galleria, a major shopping, dining and entertainment complex in Waikiki.
"The project was certainly not just of Bob Coe's doing," Coe said. "It was a project of hundreds of people here who worked on it."
Coe believes the award is "recognition for the high-quality work that a lot of people performed that will benefit Hawaii in the way of further improving the attraction."
Hawaii is in a "global tourism competition," Coe said, "and there are very good competing destinations; and the worst thing we can do is be complacent."
"We have to keep -- making ourselves better, otherwise somebody else will take what we have," he said. "We can't afford to lose tourism, and always need to be focused on projects and aggressive marketing."
Hawaii Retailer of the Year: Mike Windsor, president and CEO of InterPacific Hawaii Retail Group Ltd. Winners' list
Retailer Employee of the Year: Kamuela Potter, Crazy Shirts Inc.
Retailer Employee of the Year: Kathy Wong
Resort Business of the Year: Blue Ginger Designs Ltd.
Neighborhood Retailer of the Year: Kalapawai Market
Retail Business of the Year, Hawaii: Fabric Impressions
Retail Business of the Year, Maui: Ka Honu Gift Gallery
Retail Business of the Year, Oahu: Pacific Harley-Davidson Inc.
The Governor's Hookela Award: Bob Coe, president, DFS Hawaii
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com