• Aloha in business Aloha in business While The Garden Island is hearing more and more about visitor horror stories dealing with rude behavior they encounter on Kaua‘i, visitors and local residents find dealing with local businesses generally a pleasant
• Aloha in business
Aloha in business
While The Garden Island is hearing more and more about visitor horror stories dealing with rude behavior they encounter on Kaua‘i, visitors and local residents find dealing with local businesses generally a pleasant encounter.
However, there are retail business encounters that some want to forget, and in fact they do by forgetting about the business they were dealing with, but not before they’ve told all their friends about their poor experience.
This is quite a change from 20 or 30 years ago on Kaua‘i, before large shopping centers, the Internet and other late-20th century developments changed shopping habits. In those days many goods were sold at a premium price due to lack of supply. With little selection, or choice, shoppers made do with what was available locally unless they were able to fly to Honolulu, or were comfortable with buying some items through a catalog.
Today the businesses that hit the mark on Kaua‘i are ones that combine excellent customer service with the spirit of Kaua‘i’s aloha. This combination — be it at a local retail store, at an automotive business, or a visitor industry-related business — is what brings visitors back to Kaua‘i year-after-year and what gives Kaua‘i its perennial top rankings in national travel publication readers’ polls.
The arrival of “big box” retailers in Lihu‘e, with possibly more on the way, has also changed the habits of shoppers, and introduced new relationships that deal with aloha and customers.
At some of these large retail stores visitors are greeted at the door with a big smile, items can be easily returned if needed, the selection is vast compared to even 10 years ago.
While the friendliness in these stores can seem canned when experienced on the Mainland, here it just seems like an extension of the aloha generally experienced across the Island.
It’s been said that the younger generations now coming of age on Kaua‘i are losing this aloha sprit. While something similar to that type of opinion dates back to at least the days of Ancient Greece, it is true that an attitude 180 degrees from aloha is being shown.
Let’s hope the aloha spirit of Kaua‘i is a legacy that will be passed down for generations to come, both in business and in the community.
