Pacific Perspective
Pacific Perspective
Retailing in a time
of great economic
and social diversity
Editor's note: Pacific Perspectives has moved to Wednesday's paper from its former spot on Fridays, effective with this column.Retailing, at more than $17 billion, is one of Hawaii's most important economic sectors. The retail sector in Hawaii is highly diverse in terms of target markets, consumer preferences, firm size and retail format. It ranges from small mom-and-pop retailers to big-boxes, from local brands to global brands, from niche retailers servicing small groups to global market players. Hawaii has it all.
Today, retailers in Hawaii face a challenging time but also a time of great opportunity. A turbulent economic environment stimulated by any number of global events has left many retailers wondering when will recovery come? When will times past return?
However, retailers have never been strong advocates of times past, but rather turning to the future. The "good ol' days" were never quite as good as we would like to think. They were also fraught with challenges and opportunities.
Many remember fondly the roaring retailing of the '80s with the Japanese economy booming. However, with that opportunity came many challenges. Some claim it was these prosperous times that created one of the largest identity crisises for many of our island retailers, as these retailers switched from serving the local market to serving the Japanese tourism market; or attempted to serve both simultaneously, often resulting in less than promising results.
Maybe the good ol' days were the '90s. But was it really better watching the U.S. economy boom only to see relatively flat economic growth in Hawaii? Still, retailing in the islands continued to grow during the 1990s with the opening of numerous new retailers, both locally and non-locally owned.
Pushing past the economic aspects, retailers in Hawaii serve one of the most culturally diverse markets anywhere in the world. Our retailers have gained an in-depth understanding of these markets. Many of our retailers have gained an almost intuitive feel for how to serve divergent consumer needs, serving both a diverse tourist market as well as one of the most culturally diverse local markets in the world. In a world growing more culturally diverse, this unique skill is poised to serve our retailers well.
The diversity and complexity of operations of the retail marketplace in Hawaii are but small reflections of the greater diversity found in retailing in the Pacific Asian region (a region generating hundreds of billions of dollars in retail activity). Hawaii is truly global. Its economy has not been dependent on one country, but has been interdependent in regard to a number of countries. As such, retailers in Hawaii have a much better understanding of the issues facing retailing in the future than those of isolated economies, such as the mainland United States.
As we move forward, Hawaii retailers have the potential to be a central player in Pacific Asian retailing. They have developed the skills of survival; of servicing diverse customer markets.
These skills will not only serve them well, but also can be leveraged to assist those retailers wishing to enter the Asia Pacific region. Clearly, retailers in Hawaii stand poised to become global players tying their rich understanding of East and West together in a golden retail bow. The future of retailing is bright for Hawaii retailers who strive to reach a global market.
David A. Griffith is managing director of the Center for International Business Education and Research and an associate professor of marketing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Business Administration.