When the Going Gets Tough …
When the real estate market was taking a beating last year along with the overall economy, Rob Kildow didn’t back down. “I like a challenge, and when the market got sketchy on us, I throttled up as much as I…
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Passionate Smoothie
Lanikai Juice’s most popular smoothie is the Pacific Passion, which is made by blending passion fruit, pineapple, mango, papaya, banana, yogurt and honey. “We use fresh yogurt and we don’t use any concentrate juice,” says Pablo Gonzalez, owner of Lanikai…
Chores Let Kids Have Skin in the Game
We usually call them chores. But in the broader perspective, they’re a sensible way to share the load of a household among all its members. Call it skin in the game for kids. Call it helping everyone get through the…
My Favorite Things: Ernest Nishizaki
Ernest Nishizaki, executive VP and COO of Kyo-Ya Management Co. Ltd., which owns the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and four other Sheraton hotels in Waikiki and on Maui, is a local boy and Leilehua High graduate with deep roots in the…
Food before you fly
You’re on your way to Honolulu International Airport and you just remembered your flight doesn’t serve a meal. You’re a penny-pincher (and right now, who isn’t?) and you don’t want to pay high airport prices. Lucky for you, there are…
Advice From The Top: Chason Ishii
Chason Ishii, president, Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties. Best advice you received that you live by? My parents stressed that life is about growing inside a little every day. Every time you learn something new you grow a little; every time…
Hunger in Hawaii
The Hawaii Foodbank and its network feed one of every seven people in the Islands — a dramatic increase in just three years, the charity says. The Foodbank completed its Hunger in Hawaii study in 2006 and again this year,…
Health-insurance laws: Hawaii vs. national program
There are major differences between the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act and the national legislation signed into law by President Obama in March. The national law — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — lets Hawaii retain its distinctive…
BOSS Survey: Optimism & Concern
BOSS METHODOLOGY The Business Outlook and Sentiment Survey (BOSS) was conducted by QMark Research using a list of Hawaii companies purchased from Equifax Polk Business Directory. The sample of companies was stratified based on number of employees. Small businesses were…
Tourism Forecast: More Visitors But Storm Cloud Looms
Waikiki and other resorts statewide are more crowded these days. Visitor arrivals are up while beaches, stores and restaurants are filling again with tanned people spending their money. But there is a cloud on the horizon: Union contracts covering most…
Illegal Sex, Drugs and Gambling
A vast, illegal economy operates just beneath Hawaii’s legitimate society, and many people who earn their money in the legal economy spend part of it in the black one. The narcotics trade serves both street-corner junkies strung out on crystal…
Building Wealth
So, you want to be a real estate tycoon? If there’s one thing we’ve learned from two years of stagnation in Hawaii’s real estate market, it’s that there’s more to investing than simply buying low and selling high. That’s speculation.…