Local businesses weather the economic storm

LIHU‘E — Instead of singing the economic blues, some entrepreneurs are grabbing Wall Street’s bull by the horns, including Michael McGinnis, who recently expanded his business operations despite reports of financial doom and gloom.

McGinnis, owner of Divine Planet, wanted to offer more locally made products and seized the opportunity to open Aloha From Hanalei at the Ching Young Village Shopping Center earlier this month.

“I always kick myself on the upswing or when it’s too late,” he said when asked why he chose to go forward with starting a new business amidst an economic recession.

Though sales for Divine Planet in Kapa‘a and Hanalei were down some 30 percent during the summer months, he said, “I think this is the beginning of the end.”

 Nevertheless, visitor arrivals and spending are still sluggish, McGinnis said. Hanalei is “ground zero” for Kaua‘i visitors; a barometer for how the visitor industry is doing.

“Everybody comes to Hanalei,” he said. “If businesses are going under here, it’s a real testament to how things are going on the island.”

McGinnis said he and his wife have picked up extra shifts to help with expenses.

“It’s really hard to make your money,” he said. “I will tell you, it’s not like it used to be.”

Though his businesses are “not on the edge” and he has not had to “tap into the kid’s college fund yet,” McGinnis said he does think “a lot more about what I buy” in order to achieve greater profit margins and customer appeal.

“We’re going to make it,” he said.

Another business finding ways to weather the economic storm is Tutu’s Soup Hale in Wailua.

“It’s either sink or swim,” Bert McClus, one of the owners, said last Friday right before bellydancers from the Garden Nile Dance Troupe were set to perform at the Eastside eatery. “For us, we’re swimmers.”

Always seeking ways to create “a coffee house feeling,” owners Bert and Sage McClus said not only do they offer “affordable counter service,” but present activities which patrons can enjoy like bellydancing.

They have also invited authors to their business for book signings, including a recent appearance by Ronnie Rennae Foster, co-author of “Got Ghosts???” and a well-known “ghost buster gal.”

Having this business has been a “long and cherished dream,” Sage McCluss said, adding that she is not about to let a recession get in the way.

Island Truss Owner David Vickers is also not letting economic woes stand in his way, but said that local businesses are struggling as people are looking to save money by purchasing products off-island.

Currently, Vickers said he is “losing three to five houses a month” to off-island competitors who reportedly entice customers with lower prices. It is a difference of loosing “two of my people full time verses them collecting unemployment and spending their money local,” he said.

After going into business after ‘Iniki, “All I heard was I needed to build the best quality trusses possible and most where willing to pay extra to build a stronger truss just to be safe,” he said.

But now, with more people pinching pennies, homeowners are looking elsewhere for products and, in turn, are endangering the local economy, Vickers said.

“Its amazing to me one of the most important structural parts of the house is so easily controlled by price now,” he said. “We try to go over with the customer and explain what the differences are but they are not willing to listen.”

Homemade, quality Kaua‘i products is something McGinnis agrees that more residents should be intrigued by and is the main reason for opening his new shop. He said he hopes more residents will choose to purchase products that are part of the Kaua‘i Made program which is “really catching on,” he said.

Even with a price-driven market, Vickers is not going anywhere and plans to spend the “rest of my life here,” he said.

“I’ve been in business here for 15 years and I love Kaua‘i,” he said.

• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.