January 2009

For those of you with kids, the Chuck E. Cheese’s in Aina Haina is still open for business although they will eventually move to Dillingham/Kalihi area.

“People call every day and say, ‘Oh! You guys are open? I thought you were closed,’” said Wayne Hayami, Hawaii franchisee. The store will not close until Hayami is ready to open a replacement location at the former Grocery Outlet in City Square on Dillingham Blvd.

Mr. Hayami is leaning to the sales record of Costco’s in Iwilei. It’s always important to note the demographics and the parking space availability.

He looks forward to the benefit of being in town, noting that Costco’s sales went up when it moved from Salt Lake to Iwilei. “I think the population base is bigger there,” which could mean a better bottom line for his game parlor-pizza-party place.

http://www.starbulletin.com/business/20090111_Chuck_Es_still_partying_in_Aina_Haina.html

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A nice read from Business Week:

What do Carnegie Steel and Hewlett-Packard have in common? Both were born at a time when people thought the world was falling apart. Andrew Carnegie launched his first steel mill during the Panic of 1873, the start of a long depression. He took advantage of low costs to build an industrial giant that made him the world’s richest man. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard showed similar courage when they launched HP from a Palo Alto (Calif.) garage toward the end of the Great Depression.

History has shown that crisis breeds opportunity. Business leaders may have to cut costs to survive 2009, but the smart ones are also out there looking for prospects. They are willing to take the type of bold move that IBM made during the recessionary days of 1981 when CEO John R. Opel aggressively rolled out the company’s landmark personal computer just as PC demand soared. Even in the current downturn, there are companies like AT&T, which recently announced plans to buy two companies for a total of $1.2 billion. “A recession creates winners and losers just like a boom,” observes Mauro F. Guillen, a professor of international management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_03/b4116030884620.htm

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I’ve been amazed these days to find out the availability of grocery store online ads and coupons on Oahu, particularly how quickly it’s available online (no need to wait at your postal box or visiting your favorite grocery store) and how current it is (updated weekly). That’s actually a great way to market your product and it’s also a base when it comes to basic economics.

Economics may appear to be the study of complicated tables and charts, statistics and numbers, but, more specifically, it is the study of what constitutes rational human behavior in the endeavor to fulfill needs and wants.

http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/

The more easily you can obtain a product, the easier a product can sell. This to me constitutes a successful to a failing product. Here is a great example of a product failing in the hands of a wanting consumer.

Back to the topic, I’ve researched all the grocery stores on Oahu and here’s a list of grocery stores offering ads and coupons (they deserve a good pat on the back):

• Times Supermarket
• Star Markets
• Safeway (need to choose location)
• Foodland (need to choose location)
• Palama Market
• Nijiya Market (California only)
• Marukai

The only grocery store not offering at this time is: Don Quijote. Their website hasn’t been updated since 2007. Surprisingly, Guam’s Payless Supermarkets has it. It really is simple to scan and upload the image to the web. You really don’t have to be too fancy like using a flash version but just an image or a pdf file is enough. On Oahu, everyone knows that one store does not have the best deal. You need to look around, and it really doesn’t take up much time but few clicks to SAVE especially in the economy we are in now.

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Co-worker sent me this email below:

Have a GREAT Fridayyyyyyy! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Almost spilled my coffee seeing this monkey.

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It was nice to see mom on her way back home to Guam from Kentucky. She was out in the cold city of Fort Mitchell taking care of my sister’s 3rd child, a son this time. She enjoyed her short stay here on Oahu and particularly trying out her homeland Korean dishes.

Before her departure in the late afternoon, we went to eat lunch at Yakiniku Korywon Restaurant along Kapiolani Boulevard (see old post). This was a spicy stew with fish eggs (tarako) and tofu. Brought back nice memories as this particular stew is not too common to find. It was delicious!

As you can see, we enjoyed the food and the time together. My mom hasn’t changed a bit in terms of eating as she loves to eat and our Korean side of the family is always food when it comes to gathering. Let me also add – we also ate Thai food the day before. LOL.

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3 new retailers are expected to move in this year at the Waikele Center.

“Outlet centers like Waikele are well-positioned to ride out challenging times now more than ever, as people are looking for bargains,” said Maura Eggan, senior director of marketing for mall owner Chelsea Property Group, a unit of Simon Property Group.

In addition to Tommy Bahama, a Zales Outlet and True Religion are slated to open in Waikele early in the year, she said.

Tommy Bahama will fill the space being vacated by Big Dog Sportswear. Zales Outlet will replace Waikele Jewelry Mart.

Fragrance Outlet will relocate from its current Waikele space into the site formerly occupied by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. True Religion will then take the space vacated by Fragrance Outlet.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090101/BUSINESS08/901010330/1071

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When growing up mom would always prepare yaki buta (roast pork) for the new year. Getting the recipe from her, I was reluctant to try this time and here it is.

It’s basically a pork butt wrapped with string to prevent the meat from falling apart and slowly cooked with shoyu, sugar, mirin, sake, water, ginger and star anese seed. It’s very similar to what you find in ramen.

The end product turned out differently. Instead of yaki buta, it was like a rafute (but not using pork belly). This was very soft and the juice was perfectly right to cover the meat together. I just wished I had green onions ready to garnish the look.

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From all of us at onelatte.com, we wish you all happy, prosperous and healthful new year!

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