Sue Sanders, left, of garment company Tori Richards, and Celese Ishizu checked out a shirt at yesterday's hospitality expo at Blaisdell Center.
Show & Sell
Deal makers flock to Hawaii
hospitality trade show
MARTIE Jean Nitsche, owner of the Bougainvillea Bed & Breakfast on the Big Island, represented one of the smallest properties at the Lodging, Hospitality & Food Service Expo yesterday, but she brought big dreams to the event.
Nitsche, who opens her plantation-styled home in the Kau district of the Big Island to guests, was just one of about 5,000 buyers who scoured the Blaisdell Center hoping to find the best values at the biggest deal-making event for the state's $10 billion hospitality industry.
"One year we bought a massage chair for our guests to enjoy," Nitsche said as she eyed a chaise lounge, complete with massaging water bubbles.
"But I guess we're still looking this year," Nitsche said as she turned away, adding that the coveted lounge, which retailed for more than $20,000, was beyond her small-business budget.
The lounge might have been beyond Nitsche's reach, but there were plenty of other goods -- such as ono food samples, plumeria-scented lotion, Hawaiian-print fabric swatches, cleaning supplies and industrial equipment -- to catch her eye at the industry-only event.
And plenty more deals are to be had at an event where everyone's interested in cutting to the chase and no one wants to leave empty handed, said Peter Mann, Hawaii's representative for the National Restaurant Association.
"There's no silly games and no middle man," Mann said. The vendors are ready to sell. The buyers are ready to buy and everybody's dealing. Industry people who don't come here miss out big."
The annual event, launched in 1995, is designed to provide one-stop shopping for Hawaii's hospitality industry, said Ken Kanter, expo director, as he walked bustling trade-show aisles, his rhythm frequently interrupted by harried vendors and excited buyers.
"People exchange goods and services here like they do in the more traditional open air markets," Kanter said, adding that everything at the Hawaii show is designed to support the local hospitality industry, which is made up of 70,000 hotel and condo units and approximately 2,500 food-service establishments.
Masao Aizawa, managing director of production at Takenotsuyu Brewery in Japan, held a large bottle of the brewer's sake yesterday at a hospitality trade show at Blaisdell Center.
"You won't find snow skis here," Kanter said. "But you will find just about everything else."
More than 327 vendors, about a third of them from the mainland, divided their wares between 520 booths -- each hoping Hawaii's rebounding tourism-driven economy would send throngs of buyers flocking to their businesses, said Mervin K. Cash Jr., vice president of Honolulu Restaurant Supply Co.
"The whole economy and the hospitality industry go hand-in-hand with the travel industry," Cash said. "The amount of sales from shows has dropped the last few years after 9/11, but it looks like the decision-makers are coming back."
Hawaii's rebounding hospitality industry attracted some first-time exhibitors, such as Rich Donahoe of Los Angeles-based Rich Donahoe Hotel Supply.
"Hawaii has unbelievable business potential because it's growing as a destination," Donahoe said, adding that he's hoping the two-day event will net plenty of exposure for the company. The expo wraps up today.
"It's just going to depend on whether we get enough people at the booth; it's a numbers game," Donahoe said, adding that pleasing kamaaina buyers also requires offering them high-quality products that promote Hawaii's unique geography and culture.
"I can't sell them prints with flowers that aren't indigenous to Hawaii," he said.
The trade show also presents an opportunity for long-time Hawaii-based vendors, such as Mike Flores, vice president of sales and marketing for HFM FoodService, to talk story with customers while showcasing new products.
"It allows our customers to see what's out there and to validate why they are doing business with us," Flores said.
