LIHU‘E — Who will be the Retailer of the Year is a question that will be answered Thursday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on O‘ahu. Kaua‘i’s finalists for the award presented by the Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i were honored with
LIHU‘E — Who will be the Retailer of the Year is a question that will be answered Thursday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on O‘ahu.
Kaua‘i’s finalists for the award presented by the Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i were honored with the 2009 Ho‘okela awards presented by the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce during its Chamber AfterHours event, Thursday evening in conjunction with the Hilton Kaua‘i Beach Resort.
Heather Braun, Hilton manager, unleashed her creative department heads to lay out a lavish spread along the poolside with Maka Herrod providing entertainment throughout the event.
“This is also an event that allows the Hilton an opportunity to let the island know that it is still here and healthy,” said Carol Texeira of the chamber.
Maydene Simmons, Hilton sales manager, took the opportunity to invite people to take part in its Rock Around the Christmas Tree event from 6:30 to 11 p.m., Dec. 5, at the Hilton.
The evening will be set amidst Christmas decorations with lively dinner music with dancing to follow.
Simmons said special room rates are available for those who will head “home” via the resort’s elevator, and companies that book by Oct. 31 become eligible to win a 32-inch LCD color TV that will be given away.
This festive atmosphere was brought forth with the several themed stations set up on the outside of the Hilton property with a ceiling of scarlets, pinks and lavender as the sun set amidst the haze from the Kona weather.
In addition to the experience of learning of the Hilton’s presence at Nukoli‘i, the chamber was joined by Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. in recognizing and honoring the three recipients of the 2009 Ho‘okela awards.
Tad Miura Jr. accepted the award on behalf of the Deja Vu Surf Hawai‘i shop and announced they will be opening another outlet soon at the Kukui‘ula Shopping Village.
Randall Francisco, chamber president, and Carvalho called on all of the members of the Miura family who, this year, are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Miura Store, the root from which all the Deja Vu stores were born.
Deja Vu was nominated for the Retailer of the Year honor by the Central Pacific Bank.
Sharron Weber of Tire Warehouse is no stranger to being honored for her entrepreneurial skills and accepted the Ho‘okela award on behalf of the Weber ‘ohana. That firm was nominated by First Hawaiian Bank.
The Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union, represented in part by Taylor Shigemoto, nominated Ed and Cynthia Justus of the Talk Story bookstore in Hanapepe for the annual award.
Texeira said the three Kaua‘i finalists will join finalists from all of the Neighbor Islands at a banquet Thursday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village where the final announcement will be made.
For more information on the Rock Around the Christmas Tree event, call the Hilton at 246-5515. For more information on the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce, call 245-7363 or visit www.kauaichamber.org.
