Posted on: Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Retailers 'really upbeat'

It was wall-to-wall customers recently at the Pearlridge Toys "R" Us. Hawai'i retailers are enjoying a happy holiday season — and there's still three shopping days till Christmas. Advertiser library photo • Nov. 26, 2004

•  When to shop — Shopping hours

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Bob Taylor couldn't have asked for a better location — Ala Moana Center, mall level — or a better time — Oct. 1 — to open his 45th Maui Divers store.

So far, holiday sales have exceeded expectations for the jewelry company that has traditionally catered to tourists.

"We are doing very, very well," said Taylor, president and chief executive officer of Maui Divers Jewelry. "In Hawai'i we're up about 25 percent over last year."

And Taylor isn't alone.

Hawai'i retailers are enjoying a merry holiday season so far this year, with cash registers ringing up more sales than last year. And with only three shopping days left until Christmas, they're banking on those last-minute shoppers to close out the year with a surge.

"Retailers are all really upbeat for the next few days," said Carol Pregill, president of Retail Merchants of Hawai'i. "Everybody is doing well, with increases over last year, some as high as double-digits. It's an exciting time."

Holiday retail sales account for as much as 25 percent to 40 percent of the total annual revenues for retail sales.

Ala Moana Center is expecting to post a 12 percent increase over last year, riding the better-than-expected sales of high-end retailers, said general manager Dwight Yoshimura. The state's largest shopping center has already exceeded the billion-dollar mark in September — the third time in its history — and is on pace to record its best year post-9-11.

"I don't know how much we're going to exceed (the billion-dollar mark), but it looks real good," Yoshimura said. "Sales have been brisk."

Yesterday afternoon Ala Moana was packed with holiday shoppers. Nearly all 9,000 parking stalls were taken.

Kahala Mall is anticipating similar gains in sales this year, said general manager Ron Yoda. He expects a strong single-digit increase from last year.

"We're seeing the increase in traffic being very consistent," he said. "The surge (in sales) hasn't been a spike. It's been gradual but consistent."

Industry experts attribute the holiday surge in sales to a strengthening economy, fueled by construction and real-estate booms, and the nation's lowest unemployment rate. Even small businesses are seeing steady increases this holiday season.

"People are working and people are spending," Pregill said. "Everything is connected to everything else."

Nationally, however, sales haven't been as strong. Total sales fell 3.3 percent this past weekend compared with the same two days last year, according to ShopperTrak, which tracks sales at 30,000 retailers nationally.

But the season isn't over.

The National Retail Federation expects overall holiday sales this year to hit $219.9 billion, a 4.5 percent gain over last year.

While electronics and video games topped the list of holiday gifts nationally, Hawai'i retailers can't point to a specific item local shoppers want. They seem to want everything.

Sales at Native Books/Na Mea Hawai'i at Ward Warehouse are up nearly 20 percent this holiday season compared with last year, with customers buying everything from Hawaiian language children's books to Ni'ihau shell lei.

"We're just blown away," said owner Maile Meyer, who has had to drive to vendors herself to pick up more inventory to stock her shelves. "We're stunned and grateful."

Shoppers are grabbing everything on toy-store shelves, from Lego toys to Care Bears.

"We're doing 10 times better than last year," said Rochelle Masmorel, manager at Thinker Toys in Ala Moana Center. "Our store is totally empty. In December our sales went sky-high. We're past our million-dollar mark already."

Regular customers to Makana Mother & Baby have come back to buy gifts for their relatives and friends, said owner Deborah Sharkey.

Sales at the maternity specialty store, which opened just for the holiday season at Ward Centre, are up "exponentially" from last year.

"We've even had people buy maternity and nursing bras for stocking stuffers," Sharkey said.

Even at the Honolulu Chocolate Company, sales are up from last year, thanks to last-minute shoppers snatching up pre-wrapped boxes of truffles, among other things.

"It just seems like chocolate is that perfect gift for whoever you don't know what to get on your life," said co-owner Michael Cummins. "You know it's going to fit the person, it's something they'll be able to use. It's pretty universal."

Some retailers have noticed a different trend, thanks to the economy: shoppers spending on themselves.

"They're buying everything," said Pam Ross, owner of 'Ohelo Road in Kahala Mall. "They're coming in looking for a gift and walking out with something for themselves."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.