Stores opened early yesterday, ushering in shoppers armed with gift cards ripe for the spending. With pre-holiday sales becoming a distant memory, retailers have turned their attention to post-Christmas bargains to keep the cash registers humming. According to Jonell Kaohelaulii,
Stores opened early yesterday, ushering in shoppers armed with gift cards ripe for the spending. With pre-holiday sales becoming a distant memory, retailers have turned their attention to post-Christmas bargains to keep the cash registers humming.
According to Jonell Kaohelaulii, marketing manager at Kukui Grove Shopping Center, sales and foot traffic have been steady for the holidays.
“We’ve had a really good season,” she said.
The mall’s customer service desk sold $10,000 in gift certificates, which can be redeemed at any Kukui Grove stores. However, Kaohelaulii said that most gift cards aren’t cashed in until January.
Until then, two items that show no signs of slowing sales on Kaua‘i are University of Hawai‘i Warriors football gear and fireworks — both of which will best be put to use around the New Year.
UH apparel continues to sell big — and it seemed a popular gift, too, with many shoppers sporting telltale crisp, white UH shirts and not-yet-worn-in caps while walking the mall yesterday.
Pictures Plus Manager Kris Dela Cruz said the store’s Warriors merchandise has out-sold its picture frames and home decor items.
“We’ve sold more UH stuff than the rest of it,” Dela Cruz said.
While UH gear at a frame shop may seem like an odd fit, Dela Cruz says it’s more a tribute to the owner, Kent Untermann, a former Warrior who still keeps in touch with the UH Athletic Department.
A few stores down, Erika Kleinfeld’s Pacific Fireworks shop opened yesterday next to Circuit City. She comes each year from the Mainland to sell the Chinese-imported fireworks for the week-long period, from Dec. 26 to 31, when it’s allowed.
“Firecrackers are flying off the shelves already,” she said.
Pin Wheels, Peacocks, Snappers and Black Snakes, among others, lined the tables in the otherwise empty storefront. Kleinfeld says she offers specialty items that can’t be found at other outlets, including 3-foot-tall Morning Glory Sparklers. The Waikiki Lights fountain firework is the top seller, weighing in at 500 grams.
“You can’t get any bigger,” Kleinfeld said.
Last year Pacific Fireworks sold out of everything days before New Year’s Eve — once the inventory is gone, there won’t be any more, she said.
Other stores advertising fireworks yesterday included Sears, Wal-Mart and Kmart. Countywide, customers must be 18 or older to buy and have a permit for certain items.
No permit is required for paperless firecrackers, snakes, sparklers, fountains, cylindrical or cone fountains, whistles, toy smoke devices, wheels and ground spinners, and other similar products.
“Follow the instructions that come with the fireworks, adults should supervise youngsters at all times, and let safety be their guiding light,” Capt. David Bukoski, of the Fire Prevention Bureau, said in a press release.
For more information, call the bureau at 241-6511.
