Seattle's Best opens in Borders

[John S. Rabi]

quote:

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Originally posted by punafish

I think John R. is talking about Seattle's Best being a franchise, not Borders Group.

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That is correct.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[missydog1]

Another thing I don't get with the "avoid big box stores in Hawai'i" philosophy is that by this philosophy all the nice people who work at Borders and the coffee bar are out of work. As a frequent visitor there I know the folks there well to talk to, and they're good people.

Honestly, they provide a far nicer experience than the folks at Basically Books. No pretentiousness, no talking at you like you just got off the boat. They do not hover when you go in. They cheerfully help when asked. Nice people.

Same with Home Depot, there's a raft of nice people who have jobs there. The people who work at HPM had a longstanding rep for being rude to the average haole homeowner who came in, prior to Home Depot's arrival, which I experienced all too often. After they got some competition, their customer service got better.

Obviously when you support a Hawai'i based retail business, then there is an owner getting the profits here and not the corporation. The employees are supported either way. While some of you speaking are small business guys just trying to get by, some of these owners are just going to be the same old rich guy or family with the big house on the hill.

Frankly, do I have an investment in supporting the Shipman family or some other wealthy local family over a nationwide corporation? I don't feel that just because they happen to have been exploiting the local economy here for several generations.

Mom and pop stores are the exception.
But bottom line for me, a business has to offer what people want. If you can't do that, then find another way to make a living.

I used to live in Mendocino, California, where there were no big box stores or franchises closer than Fort Bragg, and not too much there. I watched a lot of small local owned shops start up and a lot of them flourished. They found the right niche, ran the store well, found interesting goods to sell, etc..

For household supplies most people went to Fort Bragg. The little stores weren't competing for that business. The supermarket in town had very high prices in comparison, but it was convenient and it saved gas to shop there ... so it thrived as well.

Look at Big Island Candies. I don't know who owns it but I know people will go out of their way to find it and buy from them because they offer a great product no one else has.

ed to fix stupid typo

[Guest]

Talk about bring a sandwich to a buffet!

[macuu222]

Big Island Candies lets you have free samples of everything before you buy including the Kona Coffee. They welcome everyone that enters the place personally! Thats why I buy there and I think that's partially why they are sucessful.

[Guest]

Anyone who thinks Big Island Candies is anything more then a tourist trap is completely misinformed.

http://www.allbusiness.com/wholesale-tra...542-1.html

Damon Tucker's Weblog

[missydog1]

I disagree, Damon, but thanks for the article.

One of my good friends who was born and raised on the Big Island and married into a Japanese-American family, drives all the way to Hilo from the west side just to get their shortbreads for omiyage, and she's the reason I learned about them.

She is not a tourist and has been their customer for years.

Guidebooks and other publicity have brought in the tourists, but you are misinformed if you think BIC doesn't have a loyal local customer base.

[punafish]

BIC may be a "tourist trap", but it is a very well run business with highly targeted markets, one of them Japanese visitors. Of all the hotels, restaurants and business establishments I've dealt with in Hawaii, BIC is absolutely the most sophisticated at appealing to and engaging the Japanese market. I urge all my clients in Hawaii to go there to benchmark the best.

That said, BIC is pricey, especially if you're just looking for a snack or casual gift. But their product is top notch, beautifully presented, "omiyage friendly", and they provide a level of customer service that meets even the high expectations of Japanese visitors.

[Guest]

I base my opinion on this. I would guess that 90% of their profit is made by tourist dollars.

80-90 % of their workers are making very minimal money for the profit that is being brought in.

That money that those workers make... barely cover enough for basics.

"...One of my good friends who was born and raised on the Big Island and married into a Japanese-American family, drives all the way to Hilo from the west side just to get their shortbreads for omiyage, and she's the reason I learned about them.

She is not a tourist and has been their customer for years..."

If they are driving 180 miles to get cookies... it sounds like just a tourist from the other side of the island []

Big Island Candies has marketing agreements specifically with the tour companies and give the tour companies money back in return for having the tours stop there.

It's big profit... what goes into it? Flour, Sugar and a little immigrant labor?

Damon Tucker's Weblog

[John S. Rabi]

Why is there such a sudden anti-enterpreneur sentiment here? What's wrong with making money? It's simple economics, produce something with the lowest cost and sell it for the highest price. It's called profit! Would you guys prefer the communist system? []

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[Guest]

Nothing against making a buck...

I do have something personal against BIC though []

Damon Tucker's Weblog