Thank you, John

The challenge in Hawaii is dealing with our unique insular social environment. Long-time and loyal Liberty House customers haven’t had the ability to drive on an interstate to go shopping across state lines. Put in simple terms: there’s still a cachet to getting a Christmas or birthday gift in a Liberty House box. Those boxes are everywhere whenever a special event is celebrated in most Hawaii homes. Macy’s needs to find that formula that gives its branded boxes the same cachet at a first birthday luau or high school graduation party.

In all the attention that’s being rightly focused on the corporate transformation at Liberty House, I hope we don’t lose sight of the team that made the acquisition a reality. That team was led by Liberty House President John Monahan, a quiet and unpretentious man who did nothing less than save a $300 million company and a few thousand jobs.

John joined Liberty House as a senior executive in 1990, when we were still in a boom cycle. The company’s management at that time got confused about who its core customer was, and set up Liberty House for a fall. With the yen on steroids and Japanese tourists of the early ’90s spending as it was going out of style (which turned out to be the case), Liberty House turned its back on local customers and focused on the Japanese.

Big mistake. First, the Asian financial meltdown in 1997 did away with the free-spending young Japanese tourist. Second, locals may not complain a lot in public, but they don’t forget. And boy, were they upset with Liberty House’s snotty attitude.

That was the business model that John inherited (and yes, helped to implement) when he took over as Liberty House president in 1997. The bottom was beginning to fall out by the end of that year. Then came the spring of 1998 when Liberty House sought bankruptcy protection.

Liberty House management quickly found out who its true friends were, and there weren’t too many. There was also a nasty battle for ownership of the beleaguered company. It was one of the most complicated bankruptcies in Hawaii history.

And despite the significant challenges, John and his team began the difficult process of repositioning Liberty House. They rediscovered their roots: a Hawaii department store that serves Hawaii residents. They boosted customer service to a remarkable degree.

Not surprisingly, Federated replaced John and some of his team with its own players. The good news is that John Monahan will remain in our community, one that he and his family have come to think of as home.

For now, John’s taking a well-deserved rest, “looking at the ocean” as he puts it. Given his talents, I don’t expect he’ll be watching the waves for too long.

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