Latest news with #RetailMerchantsofHawaii
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gunpoint robberies on Oahu: ‘Don't be a hero'
WAIPAHU, Hawaii (KHON2) — A string of armed robberies has left local businesses on edge. Experts said customers could see more establishments going cashless to deter thieves. Aiea business owner out over $10K after shoe, merch heist Police said three separate armed robberies have taken place on Oahu during the week of Monday, April 7. Video from Tuesday at the Mapunapuna Papa John's showed a suspect with a firearm demanding money and taking off in a dark-colored vehicle heading toward the freeway. Experts said the employee made the right move by cooperating. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news 'Whenever we hear about armed robbery and stuff, we always tell people, 'Don't be a hero. Your life is not worth it,' said Retail Merchants of Hawaii president Tina Yamaki. 'Your adrenaline is going. We don't want anybody to be shot. You know, a stray bullet hitting another customer or our worker. We just want it to be safe for everybody.' The Waipahu Papa John's also fell victim to an armed robbery on Monday. The Hawaii Restaurant Association said some eateries have cut late-night business hours in 2025 or are not even allowing customers to pay with cash. Oahu shops under siege: Smash-and-grabs ongoing 'Avoiding those times of the night, we're closing at maybe 9:00 or 10:00 is probably more favorable,' said HRA director Sheryl Matsuoka. 'Not only the armed robberies but also the smash and grabs. So they don't want to even entice any of these, you know, people that could come in and take their money so they go cashless.' Beside not allowing cash, experts said there are steps businesses can take to help deter crime or help officers if it happens. 'If businesses do have cameras, make sure the lenses are clean. You know, you don't want to have blurry images. Make sure the camera angle is at face level with people,' Yamaki said. 'Please be aware, even your staffing. Be sure that there's extra staffing if you can, especially at night. And then cameras and alarm systems, some kind of way that they can protect themselves because yes, it is it is very challenging times,' Matsuoka said. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Police said no arrests have been made in connection to the three armed robberies and all are still under investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hawaii residents, businesses to feel tariff impacts
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The stock market nosedived on Thursday, April 3, after President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on countries around the globe. Economists said your wallet might feel the pain sooner than you think, and here at home, local businesses will feel the squeeze with some warning the tariffs could be the final straw for struggling shops. Hawaii officials preparing for tariff effects on construction Officials said the full impacts of the tariffs will likely be seen in the coming weeks and months. 'Hawaii will be heavily impacted compared to the continent because we need to ship everything in,' explained Tina Yamaki, Retail Merchants of Hawaii president. Trump announced a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariffs on dozens of others that run trade surpluses with the U.S. This includes a 54% tariff on goods from China. As an example, a $10 t-shirt from China with a 54% tariff on it could now cost the consumer $15.40. 'At the end, the consumer ends up paying more and ends up paying it because as retailers, we can't absorb it all [the costs],' Yamaki explained.'We're already one of the most expensive states to live in, and this is just going to compound it,' she added. 'We probably will see more businesses closing.' Everything from food, clothes, cars, furniture, appliances and pharmaceuticals, even items made in the U.S. will cost more if it uses copper or aluminum or other products from other countries. 'At this level of tariffs, if they stay in place, we're talking about basically cutting into people's disposable income by $4,000 or $5,000 for the average household,' explained University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization Executive Director Carl Bonham. He said that could impact the tourism industry, with visitors opting out of non-essential travel. Places like Maui could see another blow. 'Certainly have been some cancelations by Canadian visitors in Hawaii, and honestly, the loss of Canadian visitors after the Maui wildfire was was consequential, so this just aggravates that and then if their economy goes into recession, it just, sort of piles on.' Check out more news from around Hawaii Bonham said some local businesses could benefit from the tariffs like Kona coffee competing with other countries now with higher costs. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hawaii businesses brace for fallout from Trump's new tariffs
Mom-and-pop businesses across Hawaii could close their doors and consumers will soon face higher prices for everyday items after President Donald Trump announced an across-the-board minimum 10 % tariff on most imports, which went into effect Wednesday night, local business and government officials say. Businesses are 'stressing ' with the likelihood of increased, tariff-driven prices while simultaneously dealing with COVID-era loans and deferred rents, said Tina Yamaki, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii. 'Retailers are already seeing the prices of Chinese goods rising, ' Yamaki said. 'They're adjusting accordingly, but a lot of them don't know how they're going to stay in business.' Yamaki's group represents about 130 large and small businesses that sell a long list of items including groceries, electronics, sporting goods and luxury goods. Many Hawaii businesses are still dealing with the aftermath of the COVID pandemic when 'a lot of loans are coming up and they face deferred rents, ' Yamaki said. 'They're stressing.' State chief economist Eugene Tian said the timing of Trump's tariffs 'is not good for small businesses ' in particular. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. 'Most businesses in Hawaii are small and have been doing OK because of federal aid during COVID, ' said Tian of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. 'The timing is not good for small businesses. For small businesses, the timing of this—the impact—is enlarged.' Individual consumers should expect to see prices rise nearly across the board, Tian said. Certain items—such as foreign parts and autos and all sorts of consumer goods from China—will see significantly higher prices, he said. Hawaii electronic buyers should especially expect higher prices for 'the computer, the iPad, all these electronics, ' he said. Stocks were falling globally and in after-market trading on Wall Street following Trump's latest tariff announcement, meaning losses for individual 401 (k ) accounts. Locally and across the country, economists have been warning consumers to also brace for rising inflation and a potential recession as a result of Trump's tariffs. But Tamara McKay, chair of the Republican Party of Hawaii, said she believes that foreign countries—especially China—want to avoid a trade war with the United States and will quickly negotiate a comprise that will prevent prices from rising for U.S. consumers. 'They will definitely work it out, ' McKay said. 'The Chinese are not going to want their profit margin to decrease. … They know that Donald Trump doesn't play. In the short term, we're not going to see much change.' 'If not, ' McKay acknowledged, 'we may see some increased costs in goods.' She said she supports Trump's overall goal to bring more balance to what he calls America's 'unfair ' trade relationship with much of the rest of the world. 'He's charging them what they're charging us, ' McKay said. 'In the long run it will benefit America and create more jobs and open more businesses.' Trump on Wednesday announced 10 % tariffs on all goods imported to the United States, along with higher 'reciprocal tariffs ' for specific countries. They include a 34 % tariff on Chinese imports on top of 20 % duties already assessed the country, bringing the total to 54 %. There also is a 20 % increase on goods from the European Union and a 24 % levy on items from Japan. Hawaii's construction industry helped keep the state's economy afloat through the COVID era. But Trump's tariffs likely will increase the prices of critical construction materials, which will increase construction costs and therefore home prices, and make it even harder for working families to buy a home, according to Pacific Resource Partnership, the political arm of the Hawaii Carpenters Union. 'The additional tariffs will definitely exert pressure on our homebuilders and even the ability of some projects to pencil out or not, ' PRP spokesperson Andrew Pereira said. Larger homebuilders have a stockpile of materials 'and may not be immediately impacted, ' he said. But smaller contractors working on home-remodeling projects or accessory dwelling units for individual customers likely will have to pass along the increased costs of materials to their customers, Pereira said. 'They may see the increased prices of materials before our large builders do, ' he said. Even costs for U.S. construction materials likely will increase as tariffs trigger a 'supply-and-demand dynamic ' among their U.S. customers for items including soft wood lumber, Pereira said. Sherry Menor-McNamara, CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, said Hawaii businesses have been been curtailing spending since Trump began threatening tariffs. 'A lot of them have been holding back on spending and investments and being very cautious in making any financial decisions because there will be impacts, ' she said. 'We are an island state heavily reliant on imports. The tariffs on top of the costs of having goods imported here is going to have a domino effect.' Cuts have been 'across the board … from travel to restaurants, ' Menor-McNamara said. Trump's policies have already affected Hawaii tourism, which adds to the overall economic uncertainty, she said. 'We are going to see some kind of financial impact, ' Menor-McNamara said. 'I don't think any business will be immune to this.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Five years later, COVID lockdown consequences remain
HONOLULU (KHON2) — On March 25, 2020 Hawaiʻi's stay-at-home order took effect. It was meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and save lives, but the repercussions of the pandemic-era decisions are still being felt five years later. The restaurant industry was hit particularly hard according to Hawaii Restaurant Association Executive Director Sheryl Matsuoka. Wahiawa family one of first to receive fetoscopic surgery 'At the time, they're thinking, we're going to ride this out and we'll be okay,' Matsuoka said. But it wasn't. The restrictions lasted until February 2021. Matsuoka said more than 80 restaurants shut down due to the pandemic and many continue to struggle. 'You're seeing restaurants still, their hours are still reduced,' she explained. 'And you see a lot of the restaurants that are trying to stay open, or the smaller mom and pops, those are the ones that you know are really trying to still figure it out with the rising cost of food and utilities and supplies and rent.' Brick and mortar retail shops also took a major hit.'We saw a lot of local businesses, especially the smaller ones, taking out second mortgages on their home, taking out personal loans, home equity loans, anything to keep their doors open,' Retail Merchants of Hawaii President Tina Yamaki said. Yamaki said many folded under the weight of that debt and the drastic shift to online shopping was the nail in the coffin for businesses that weren't able to pivot. According to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, 25% of Hawaiʻi businesses closed in the first six months of the pandemic. Some are gone for good, but many have since reopened. Most shops and restaurants that survived are now facing another unforeseen consequence of the pandemic: a worker shortage. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news 'During the pandemic, people figured out a way that they could make ends meet,' Mitsuoka explained. 'And they're not interested in coming back.' The pandemic fallout isn't limited to businesses. COVID is still around. Dr. Dominic Chow, a physician at Queen's Medical Center's Long COVID Care Center says long COVID is very real, impacting 10 to 15% of people who catch the virus. 'We have about 4,000 to 8,000 people with long COVID,' Chow said. Dr. Christine Akamine, an infectious disease physician, said they are continuing to look for answers regarding the illness. 'We're still trying to understand the mechanism by which long COVID is caused,' Akamine explained. 'We're still trying to understand the best ways to diagnose long COVID, and we're still trying to understand the best treatments for long COVID.' There is a saying that hindsight is 20/20. Dr. Lee Buenconsejo-Lum worked with the health department during the pandemic, and said that hard calls had to be made. 'Some really tough decisions had to be made. But we came out with the lowest mortality right,' she said. 'But we are still seeing repercussions for sure. So then how do you decide?' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Consumers buying directly from local farms for cheaper eggs
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Eggs are a hot commodity these days, and the prices just keep going up. KHON2 compared a few grocers and local farms to see where to find the best deals. Avian Flu isn't the only cause driving up egg prices. Egg prices are too high. Try these 8 easy alternatives: Hawaiʻi money matters 'Chicken feed is going up. Fertilizer is going up, and come January, when we see the increase in the minimum wage, we're probably going to see egg prices rising again,' stated Tina Yamaki, Retail Merchants of Hawaii President. Many consumers are buying directly from local farms to get better deals. 'The prices are ridiculous. You could get 12 eggs for $7, $8, but that's gone up to like $14, $15 now. So double the price,' said David Marin, a frequent customer at Waialua Fresh Eggs. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Receipts collected from popular wholesale stores show a sharp increase in prices. Eighteen locally grown eggs were priced at $6.89 back in June. In October, eggs cost about $8. Now, it's almost $15. Prices at different grocery stores were nearly $16 for 18 mainland eggs. 'When you have to have it delivered to the grocery store, the grocery store has to pay for that delivery. [Stores] also have to make a little bit of profit because we do want to pay our employees who are at the cash register and stocking and things like that,' said Yamaki. Check out more news from around Hawaii Experts said high prices are likely to stay. 'We hope it hits a plateau, but you never know. There are still factors that are bringing everything up costs, especially to the neighbor islands if you have to ship eggs,' said Yamaki. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
