• Wal-Mart timeline • Blinding efficiency • Go, Wal-Mart • Economics of competition • Made us feel at home Wal-Mart timeline In a presentation made to the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission, Wal-Mart’s position is that the master plan was approved
• Wal-Mart timeline
• Blinding efficiency
• Go, Wal-Mart
• Economics of competition
• Made us feel at home
Wal-Mart timeline
In a presentation made to the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission, Wal-Mart’s position is that the master plan was approved and the right to expand was vested prior to the adoption of the Big Box ban.
Wal-Mart’s proposed expansion of its Lihu‘e store into the state’s first Supercenter is designed to fit entirely within the expansion area already approved in the 1992 permits, according to the presentation.
Following is a timeline that generally shows Wal-Mart’s efforts to obtain permission to proceed with expansion of the store:
• March 2006: Wal-Mart’s initial discussion with the Planning Department regarding the expansion of the Lihu‘e store.
• May 26, 2006: Wal-Mart submitted an application to the Planning Department to expand the Lihu‘e store.
• Oct. 13, 2006: Mayor referred Big Box bills to the Planning Commission.
• Oct. 25, 2006: County Council voted to refer Big Box bill to the Planning Commission.
• March 2007: Wal-Mart submitted a revised site plan to the Planning Department reducing the post-expansion floor area to 185,504 square feet.
• May 21, 2007: Wal-Mart’s meeting with the Planning Department to approve the revised site plan.
• May 23, 2007: Wal-Mart’s resubmitted application received by the Planning Department.
• May 24, 2007: County Council voted to pass the Big Box bill.
• Jack Stephens
Lihu‘e
Blinding efficiency
In response to a recent letter regarding the “aloha spirit” at Costco (“Where is the aloha?” Letters, Aug. 14).
Please Costco, don’t change your checkout procedure. I like the fact the I can shop and get on with my life when I go to Costco. I appreciate their efficiency and speed in assisting me to get through the checkout quickly. I really find it extremely rude that some customers feel that they must “talk story” when there are other people in line with ice cream melting. People who hold up the line are probably the same ones who drive below the speed limit and refuse to move over even though they have a line of cars behind them. Everytime that I have gone to Costco, I have found the employees to be very friendly and able to work quickly at the same time.
If you want to chat, please go to Starbucks and visit on the nice patio they provide.
Keep up the good work, Costco employees.
Robin Voorhies
Kapa‘a
Go, Wal-Mart
Bravo to Wal-Mart for standing up against an out-of-control county government. Among other things, they sued to stop a County Charter amendment that would have saved some from going under or moving to the U.S.A. in order to live out their remaining years comfortably. Then they take Wal-Mart to court to stop them from being able to sell us middle-class working people necessary items at a lower cost.
All I can say is thank God for a strong retailer with the gumption to do what they have a right to do via their permit when they bought the land.
On the other hand it is going to be fun to watch two “deep pocket” entities go to court over something that shouldn’t even be a problem. Wal-Mart has those “deep pockets” and Kaua‘i has our “deep pockets.” Well my money is on Wal-Mart, thus I say, “Hip hip hooray for Wal-Mart. Now get ‘er done.” And to the council I say, “Get on with something that will actually help the voters. Like fixing the roads, figure out how to get enough homes built that the supply will be greater than the demand, to name a couple of items that are more important.”
Gordon “Doc” Smith
Kapa‘a
Economics of competition
I would like to add my input on Michael Mann’s letter and Stan Godes’ response last week concerning transportation costs to Hawai‘i. Mr. Mann perpetuates the myth that ocean shipping is costly. As Mr. Godes alluded to, the reality is that, per container load, ocean shipping is significantly less expensive than trucking costs on the Mainland. That is, it costs much less to ship a container load from Los Angeles to Kaua‘i via ship, versus shipping that same container from Los Angeles by truck to, say, Denver, Colo. Of course, should one want to purchase one exercise bike and have it shipped from the Mainland to Kaua‘i the shipping costs are huge — more than having the same exercise bike shipped overland on the Mainland. But purchase a container load of exercise bikes and the cost per bike shipped to Kaua‘i will be much less. Or, fill the container with a mixture of items to sell in Kaua‘i and the cost per pound will be less than trucking. Considering that overhead costs are much higher on Kaua‘i than on the Mainland (labor, building costs, electricity — 33 cents per kWh versus 10 cents per kWh means to air condition a huge store costs a bundle — how else can Costco sell items for the same price as their Mainland stores except by having lower delivery costs? Sears and Wal-Mart, on the other hand, appear to mark items up about 10 percent over their Mainland stores — which is still less markup than many stores on Kaua‘i, especially the food stores. Safeway, for example, typically charges 1/3 more for many items than on the Mainland. Why? Probably because they have no competition from other food stores charging less.
Years ago I lived in a mountain community in Utah that had one gasoline station. It charged about 20 percent more per gallon than did stations in Salt Lake City. Why? Because shipping costs up the mountain were very high. Then one day a competing station opened up that charged the same price as did the stations in Salt Lake City. Guess what — the first station dropped its price to match the new station. Today, both stations are still in business. Amazing how the shipping costs dropped overnight — duh.
Roger Ward
Kalaheo
Made us feel at home
I would like to thank the families of the Kaulupono Girls Basketball teams “A” and “B,” Gee’s Angels and the Lihu‘e Kamikaze basketball team for their hospitality and genuine aloha spirit. These families have opened their hearts and kitchens to our girls from Hilo over this past weekend. Also a big thank you to Karen Matsumoto, without you, it would not have been possible. Again, thank you to all who have helped to make our Piopio Bears girls basketball team feel welcomed and comfortable. Being a native of this place that I call home, I am truly proud to have grown up on Kaua‘i. Mahalo to all.
Edward K. Kinzie
Hilo, Big Island
