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There are some things that could make a ig box like Costco/Sams viable, the same ones that were in place a few years ago & will continue to be unique to the east side
When looking at demographics on the east side, it is very easy to overlook the tourist economy...Hilo was THE tourist destination on Hawaii Island for almost a century & still has tremendous draw...& the needs to cater to the tourists.... but one of the very unique things for Hilo that is not as wonderful for shopping at other ports, is Hilo port...very close to Hilo town, on a fairly reliable bus route (every hour) & very quick for workers & supplies to be ordered & loaded...one of the easiest port in state to do all in a very close proximity...
And even though the COUNTY may not allow another big box, most of the current big boxes in county are NOT regulated by county, as they are built on DHHL & other non-county regulated leased land....
not sure IF a major warehouse big box will ever be built on this side, but these are some more things to think about if you are thinking "No WAY"...
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A few things we bought at Costco today were "Hawaiin grown" like our cucumbers. We also bought a few larger purchases like a roasting oven.
Well worth the trip. The only meat we bought was things like salami and procuitto. I grow my own meat or trade. I did however buy things like spices, ziplock bags, a dog bed, etc etc. Filled our truck up. Well worth the trip for us.
Costco is not only a good employer but buys some local products, and high quality products. You generally don't find the same crap that you find at wal mart there.
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I think it's a matter of time. In the meantime, some of the local stores (big and small) offer deals that are comparable. We also have Cost U Less. It seems that this may be an opportunity for someone with a truck and trailer who periodically makes the trip - for a fee make bulk purchases for a small group of subscribers.
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I think there are businesses on the Puna side who make big orders with Costco and they offer the locals an opportunity to be included in the order. I tried it one time (used Puna Kamali'i Flowers in Shipman business park). Convenient but noticed there was a "handling" fee of $10.00 on my $75 order. Don't know if the handling fee was a charge Costco tacks on for bringing a big order over here or if the business took that money. I didn't ask. Anyway, there is that option if people are interested. Maybe contact Costco and ask them if a group of teachers could come together and make big orders monthly and have the supplies delivered here.
He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.
He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.
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it wouldnt make sense.
How many places in this country of 190K people can support 2 Costcos? Let alone we are the poorer side too. We all lucky we got one on this island. Remember, this whole island of 4,023 sq miles only has the population of an average city in places like NorCal ie Santa Rosa has more people than this island, an island as big as the entire Bay Area....
Heck, Oahu an island only 10% larger than Puna, could probably support 4 Costcos... they got nearly a million people packed in over there...
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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
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Actually, Oahu does support four Costco locations. Even Kauai has a Costco.
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Apparently I'm the only one on this thread that has actually ASKED Costco about their plans to open on the eastside. Costco does a lot of outreach on this side of the island - meaning that their marketing staff are at booths at events like community craft fairs.
I asked the Costco marketing staff about opening in Hilo when they were at an event at the Butler Building recently. The staff said that nationwide they will open a second store when the number of members reaches a certain percentage. If I recall correctly, the percentage is about 15%.
Thus 15% of the members shopping in Kona have to live in Hilo or east Hawaii before they would considering building in Hilo. The Costco staff said they are half way to the threshold # of members needed to open a Hilo location.
Has nothing to do with their CEO, the economic status of our neighborhoods, what they pay staff, or whatever nonsense kalakoa and dragon2k want to spew.
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When I spoke to them I received two responses.
One was based off a percentage of their clients location as you have stated. However, it was by zip code and they said that 96778 and 96720 are not counted together so I'm not sure we will ever hit the percentage that they need.
The other response I received was that we would need different people on the board (not sure what board they were referring too) as KTA had to much pull on this side of the island.
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Wait, you mean certain well-connected locals are applying anti-Costco pressure?
Apparently when I cite "political resistance" it's some kind of "nonsense".
Maybe I was just calling out the wrong entity -- it's simply that I tend to label things "County" because I don't know all the relevant local family names.
Rephrase the question: to whom does the East Side belong? Does it even matter, since it's clearly not "the people"?
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Title got me excited, for a few seconds.
What about a Sam's Club? I know it's not as high quality as Costco, but it's a start. I bet if there's even a hint that WalMart is putting in a Sams, Costco will get real interested real quick.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
