Hawaii stores expect busy holiday season - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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The optimism expressed by some Hawaii merchants is in directt contrast tothe Mainland, wheres retailers are bracing for a slowedr season than last year, with high gas prices and a housinhg crisis that's left many cautious abour opening their wallets. "I thinkl in Hawaii we're still a little bit stronger than the nationin general," said Ron Yoda, general manageer of . "I think we'll do better than the rest of the This week, the issued its forecast for the upcoming season, and it wasn'g very optimistic. The Washington, D.C.-based organization predicts growth of 4 percenyt over2006 sales, the lowest forecast since 2002. Actualk growth that year was just 1.
3 percent. American householde are projected tospend $619.51 each on gifts and holiday up from $603.86 last year. The national group defines the holiday shopping seasonh as the months of November and although for many shoppers the starting gun fires the morningafter Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday. "Th e bottom line is that while consumerswwill spend, they will actually be spendinh a little bit more cautiously," said spokeswomann Kathy Grannis. "We see luxury retailers being the winneres this year because their shoppers are not as impacter by economic factors such as gas prices and the housinbg marketand such.
" But the same could be said abouty Hawaii shoppers, according to some store ownerd who expect sales to be as good as last year or based on what they've seen lately. "We've already startexd putting out ornaments," said Michael Cummins, co-owner of at Ward Centre, whichu sells unique Christmas ornamentzs eachholiday season, along with its "That has already been selling really well, so I'mj hoping for a very good Christmas." expecte sales at its eight Oahu storesw to be stronger than last in part because its stores at Pearlridgw Center and the newly renovated Windward Mall are both larged than last year.
"Having the right merchandise and a wide selection of products at the right price is said Marketing Director Lani Although optimistic, most retailers say it is hard to predict exactly how much business they'lll see. "It really is hard to predict," said Reid Fujita, with his wife Jonelle, of Cinnamon a dress, accessories and gifts "We had years that we thought would be soft and it turnedr out to be a banner holiday and we had yearws that we thought would be a banner year that turnex out tobe flat." Kahal Mall merchants are expecting this year to be jolliere than last year, when the mall was still recovering from a flood nine monthz earlier.
The movie theaters were closerduntil December, and then only partiallu opened. The Apple Store stillp was under construction and there were severa lunoccupied spaces. "This year we don't have any of thosee dark spaces, so that helps traffic and thegeneral feel," Yoda All eight theaters have since re-opened, alon g with the Apple Store, and just this week, Cinnamo n Girl opened a holiday store in the former Banansa Republic space. Next door Santa'sx Pen, a local company that specializes in customized tree is getting ready to open in aspace that'ws twice as large as the formerr Zales jewelry store it leased at Kahalz Mall last holiday season.
"I thinko we're going to do betterf than last year," said Gaye who, with husband Brian, owns Kahala Kids at Kahalz Mall. "Our numbers have been up since the beginninvg ofthe year." Not so at Ala Moanq Center, which is in the end stagews of a major construction project that has bisected the parkintg lots on the Kapiolani Boulevardr side of the mall. Ala Moana also has been hurt by the downturj in Japanese tourism and a shift in shoppiny patterns byyounger Japanese, who are now lookinh for the kind of bargains offereds by Wal-Mart.
"The feeling in the locao market seems to feel better than it does in thevisitoer market," said Kim Scoggins, vice presidenr of the retail services divisiomn at Colliers Monroe Friedlander. "The visitord market is pulling back alittle