Deployments a drain on Wahiawa firms
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
WAHIAWA — It was noon, typically the busiest time of the day at Michael's Barber Shop, and there were just three people sitting in the waiting area.
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They were all barbers.
Sgt. George Rodrigues gets a trim from Tammy Nguyen at Michael's Barber Shop in Wahiawa. Many of the shop's regular customers have deployed overseas.
No customers, no lines, no business.
"There is no busy time here anymore," said barber David Phan. "Everything just pretty much slowed down."
Phan estimates sales at the 10-year-old barbershop on Wilikina Drive are down at least 75 percent since the deployment of about 8,000 soldiers from Schofield Barracks between January and April.
Many businesses in Wahiawa have seen a dramatic drop in sales. And with deployments lasting a year, shopkeepers worry about their prospects in a community so dependent on the military.
"There's definitely a lot of concern," said Dan Nakasone of the Wahiawa Community and Business Association. "A lot of these businesses have been through this before with Desert Storm, but this deployment is much larger. I'm sure that the impact is much bigger."
There are about 54,000 military personnel on O'ahu, said Lawrence Boyd, economist for the Center of Labor Education and Research at the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu.
Boyd is researching the military's economic impact on Hawai'i, using data from the state Department of Defense. With almost 10,000 troops from Hawai'i in Iraq and Afghanistan, about 19 percent of the military population has been deployed.
That, Boyd said, translates into roughly $80 million to $100 million of potential revenue lost in that one year of deployment.
"That may not be a lot to the county's economy," he said, "but that's a lot to Wahiawa."
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According to state economists, exact figures on how much revenue Wahiawa businesses will lose because of the deployments are difficult to calculate. Factors include whether soldiers lived on base, how much money they spent in the area and how many of their dependents remain in Hawai'i.
Kemo'o Farm employees Keeley Cunningham, Chuck Busch, and Eric Tjepkes kill time by playing pool. The Wahiawa bar, which reports that 75 percent of its customers are military, says sales have been hit hard.
Aside from laying off employees and reducing their hours, the more than 100 businesses in Wahiawa don't have many options, Nakasone said. Merchants from Mililani to Waialua have been offering discounts for the remaining military troops and their families, "but that's pretty much all we can do," he said.
There still may be steady traffic into El'Gant Alterations on Kamehameha Highway, but business is way down, said owner Anh Nelson.
"You would make $200 in one day, now you lucky make $10," she said in between alteration jobs. "Yeah, we're worried. No have money, no can pay the bills."
El'Gant, which has catered mostly to military personnel in its 14-year existence, used to employ 14 workers. Now there are only six.
"We need to look for (more) business," Nelson said. "But we don't know where yet."
Ryan Lau, manager of Island Tattoo, knows all too well that he's got to figure out ways to drum up business. More than 70 percent of his customers were military, and the deployment of so many soldiers has made a significant impact on sales.
Before January, the shop's five artists were tattooing about 10 people a day. Last Tuesday, they had only one appointment.
"It's starting to slow down," Lau said, adding that his local clients are keeping the store in business. "We're not suffering yet."
Restaurateurs, too, are feeling the pinch, despite their tendency to attract more local customers than speciality shops like tattoo parlors and barbershops.
At Subway on California Avenue, sales are down about 55 percent since March, said owner Danny Mabalot.
"We're very, very concerned," said Mabalot, who opened another Subway on Wilikina Drive across the street from Schofield Barracks. Business is hurting there, too, he said.
More than three-fourths of the customers at Papa John's Pizza on Kamehameha Highway were military, and sales have slipped since January. Now the pizzeria makes about $10,000 a week less than what it did prior to the deployments — a nearly 50 percent decrease.
At Subway and Papa John's, proprietors have cut back employees' hours, not staff, for now.
Zippy's Restaurant on Kamehameha Highway, which pulls in a steady local crowd, has seen a 5 percent drop in sales. It's the only 24-hour restaurant in the area — and the only Zippy's for miles — and the biggest drop in customer traffic has come during the late-night hours.
"The restaurant is usually at least half-full" during those hours, said Cesar Carganilla, unit manager. "Now we're lucky to have 10 customers."
He's had to trim staff hours, but no one has been laid off yet. If sales continue to plummet, that may be a possibility, Carganilla said.
"For some businesses, the military (makes up) the majority of their sales," Nakasone said. "And for others, they're more broad-based. But they are still dependent on the military."
The pain is being shared, even among those businesses not completely dependent on military customers.
Tom's Golf Shop on Wilikina Drive counts only 20 percent of its clientele as soldiers. The golf shop has built up a solid customer base in its 23 years in Wahiawa.
But it, too, has been affected, with sales already down about 10 percent from the same time last year.
"It hasn't been severe," said owner Tom J. Hrdlicka, "but it could be."
Stores in Wahiawa have realized just how much business the military provides.
"People think they don't need the military," Phan said. "But I think this whole town depends on the military, no matter what. It's times like these that you really appreciate them."
Bars are no exception.
The Top Hat Bar on Kamehameha Highway lost about 60 percent of its business when the soldiers left, giving owner John Eiting time to renovate his 63-year-old establishment.
"We're taking a problem and turning it into an opportunity," he said. "We're sprucing the place up for them for when they get back."
Located directly across from Schofield Barracks, Kemo'o Farm on Wilikina Drive has been long considered a "military bar." About 75 percent of its customers are military, and sales have been cut in half since the deployments, said Sophia Budroe, entertainment and advertisement manager.
On one weekday afternoon, the only patrons in the pub were employees, sitting at the bar and shooting pool, waiting for a pau hana rush.
"Let's put it this way," said employee Eric Tjepkes, who closes the bar three nights a week. "In the last there weeks, there's been more activity in a mausoleum."
The pub continues to attract a diverse mix of locals, bikers and ravers looking for a rock 'n' roll atmosphere away from town.
Owners plan to lure more customers through targeted radio ads and special events, such as Beach Night on June 4.
"We knew it was coming, we're just trying to get through it," Budroe said. "We're all still waiting for the boys to come home."
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
