LEADERSHIP CORNER
To Price Busters president, gratification is seeing people succeed

Interviewed by David Butts
Advertiser Staff Writer

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Personal profile

• Self portrait: I say what is on my mind. Sometimes that is not good. My son says I over-communicate. I love to socialize. I just love people, period. I don't like stuffy affairs like black-tie events. But if you invite me to a football game and say there will be cold beer, I'll be there. We love UH volleyball, basketball and football. My father always told me that I am a blue-collar person living in a white-collar world. My three children are my best accomplishment ever. The kids are the biggest part of my life; and the 250 employees. We have an incredible staff. You treat them like they are your family. I don't think money is the only thing that motivates people. I think a hug and a kiss motivates people. I'm a very touchy feely person. A pat on the back and a thank you goes a lot farther than a check. When we set up a new store and there are 72 people helping, we take time to introduce everyone in a big circle.

• Favorite book: "Sam Walton: Made in America: My Story." I think he is a genius. The way he started Wal-Mart, sat on an orange crate and built it from the ground up with a lot of guts and not a lot of retail knowledge.

• Favorite Web site or search engine: I'm on (the Web) constantly. I read retail discount news. Most everything I read concerns retail or business. I shop on the Web. I use it for everything. I check public companies' financial statements — what their costs are compared to mine; what their sales are per store and per square foot; how much space they are giving to this product or that. I read press releases. I get ideas for new products.

• Most remembered mentor: Linda Holt, president of Jeans Warehouse Inc. I worked for her about 21 years ago. I like how she negotiated her prices and deals. If you are trying to buy a product and they are asking $3 and you can't retail it for $2, you say it.

• Best part of the job: My staff. It is just gratifying to see people succeed. It is nice to nurture people and help them grow. A part-time clerk that started five years ago is now a manager. I like to feel that people have the opportunity to do whatever they want in this company. I always say you can have my job; it is open.

• Trademark expression: "Everybody has to play in the sandbox well together: nobody can throw sand and you can't bite." "Everything happens for a reason." "What goes around comes around."

• Best decision as a leader: To marry my husband, Dave Kimler. He inspired me to succeed. He's the executive vice president and buyer for Price Busters' food and candy. He always believed in not only me but in the business. When Liberty House filed bankruptcy and they were our major client, I thought we were finished. He has a way of bringing me back.

• Worst decision as a leader: I regret not going to college. My mom died when I was a senior in high school and everything kind of fell apart. I started working at 17. Maybe I could have done a lot better if I had gotten a college degree. Understanding financial statements wouldn't have taken as long.

• What I worry about most: My children's safety, and the company surviving. That's what you worry about when you own a company and have 250 employees that rely on you to pay their bills. What I worry about the most is if anything happened to Price Busters, God forbid, what would happen to these people. We have a lot of single moms here. That's a big burden. It makes me want to succeed.

• Most difficult challenge: Trying to figure out how to open as many stores as I want with very little money.

Taking on... Liberty House bankruptcy; Sept. 11

• When Liberty House went bankrupt, I cried. I had just opened the Waimanalo store. We were a wholesaler to Liberty House. We did private labels for jewelry and kids' accessories. It was our main business. I called my banker and said, "This is it; we aren't going to make it." He was just phenomenal. He lent us money when he shouldn't have. I called all my vendors and every vendor gave us leeway. Vendors that I owed, they were fantastic, and to this day we are still with those vendors.

• When Sept. 11 happened, I was emotionally devastated as the rest of the world was. I thought about shutting down all the stores. I could care less. I didn't care about doing business. It took me a long time to understand. That was a big one to heal. I still haven't gone back to New York.

We had just opened the Hawai'i Kai store in July (2001). It was doing phenomenal. And it just crashed. It was a strong tourist store. The tourist business completely dried up. You got to fly here, you can't swim. People didn't want to travel and the whole business outlook changed. People shifted to trying to cater to the local customer.

We called all the vendors and said, "Sorry, there is nothing I can do." It goes back to communication. If you are honest and you communicate, you'll be okay. If you cry wolf, say the check is in the mail, that just gets old.