TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Le boycott is le failure,
much to le relief
of local businessesThe e-mailed hue and cry to boycott all things French is making the rounds locally, but it's had no appreciable affect on Hawaii businesses with a French, or pseudo-French, connection.
Air Liquide America Corp., with six stores in the islands, is a French-owned business dealing in industrial, medical, hospitality and welding gases and safety supplies.
Despite ownership changes through the years, some of Air Liquide's 36 Hawaii employees have more than 30 years on the job, according to manager Mark Fujiwara. He is not French, as far as he knows.
"We deal with construction workers. They're our good customers," he said.
He referred TheBuzz to Hawaii Region Manager Colin Gerrard; a French-looking name if ever there was one.
"He's a Kiwi," Fujiwara assured.
With a distinctly non-French definitely New Zealand accent, Gerrard said he became a U.S. citizen on Sept. 17, 2001. "I'm pretty proud of that."
As for the alleged boycott, Gerrard said Air Liquide is a publicly traded company in France, but "it is owned by a lot of the American retirees and people saving up for retirement," through pension and 401K plans and the like, he said.
"We supply Pearl Harbor all of their gases," said Gerrard.
Does that include the hot air for all the brass?
"That's your quote, not mine," he said, chuckling.
"We're the American subsidiary of a French company but if you want to classify us as French, then you can say French products are on American warships helping them with their mission."
"There's a big gap between French politics and supporting local businesses," he said.
First Hawaiian Bank also appears on the circulating "target" list.
First Hawaiian was founded in Hawaii in 1858 but now is a wholly owned subsidiary of BancWest Corp., which is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, France's largest publicly traded bank.
The bank has not seen any tangible backlash, according to Brandt Farias, senior vice president and marketing director.
"First Hawaiian Bank does not have a foreign policy. We do, however, have a Hawaii policy and that is to take care of the financial needs of the consumers and businesses in Hawaii," he said. "We're not a political institution, we're in the service business."
The bank gives $2 million a year to Hawaii charities and was recently named Aloha United Way company of the year, said Farias.
First Hawaiian employs 2,000 Hawaii residents.
DFS Hawaii is 60 percent owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a France-based conglomerate.
Louis Vuitton's Hawaii stores are among the best performers in the company, according to quarterly and annual reports.
DFS Hawaii Group Vice President Sharon Weiner said they have seen no slowdown in business due to the push for a boycott.
"95 percent of duty free customers are Japanese," she said. DFS Hawaii employs 1,200 residents.
The French connection to French Wrench Corp., with service stations on Ward Avenue and Silva Street, is in name only.
The name came from a former manager who was French-Canadian, according to company Vice President Mike Verner.
It has seen no backlash, no customer rejection of French Michelin tires or any other product. Not a single international incident.
"Plus, we've got a lot of local guys working here," Verner said. The company marks 20 years in business on Saturday.
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