Now & Again

1986 IN THE LINE OF DUTY (FREE)

There was a time when DFS Hawaii was at the center of Hawaii’s tourism world.

From 1986 to 1998, the duty-free high-end retailer was consistently one of the top 20 companies in our annual Top 250 list. A decade ago, it was ranked seventh with sales of $700 million and in its most recent Top 250 appearance in 1998, DFS Hawaii was No. 8 with sales of $600 million.

Since then, DFS Hawaii’s world has changed. Its primary customers are Japanese tourists, whose numbers have steadily decreased over the past several years. From 1998 to 1999 (the year DFS Hawaii fell off the list) Japanese tourism decreased 8.9 percent. This year alone, from January to April, Japanese tourism decreased an additional 7 percent. The most recent drops have been linked to higher hotel fees and increasing fuel prices, which have, in turn, raised the cost of airline tickets. DFS Hawaii fell off our list in 1999, and it has yet to bounce back. It continues to face challenges and on June 26, it announced that it will “temporarily” cut store hours for its Waikiki galleria and reduce work hours for 1,200 employees.