Above: Rock Tang, Hawaiian Airlines’ managing director of corporate real estate, welcomes news media and airline retirees to the new repair hangar, which is almost the size of two football fields. The white doors and posts at left rise to…
For many Hawaiian musicians and singers, performing is both their passion and their livelihood. So, when there's not enough places to perform locally, or the pay is too low, they have to improvise. Some work day jobs and perform at…
Most people in Hawaii have never heard of China Oceanwide. They will soon enough. The little-known Chinese conglomerate has purchased $569 million of real estate in West Oahu, including the remaining oceanfront land between Aulani and the Beach Villas at…
King tides may come and go, but several experts say that rising sea levels in Hawaii are here to stay. And, according to Sam Lemmo of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, these king tides offer a glimpse…
A record-setting 8.9 million visitors came to Hawaii in 2016. Most were drawn by the Islands’ decades-old persona of sun, sand, surf and aloha, but some were lured by the artful use of creative technology: • A photo on the…
In April 2016, Uchiyama took over at Island Air after it was sold by billionaire Larry Ellison to local investors. Uchiyama has a long track record in the local visitor industry, including serving as VP for brand management at the…
When Sky Waikiki director of mixology Jen Ackrill debuted such wild ingredients as turmeric-infused vodka, spicy chili liqueur and absinthe spray as part of a new series of surf-inspired cocktails, we were impressed. Her innovative new take on cocktails was…
Jean Rolles, now 81 and daughter of Outrigger's founders, Roy and Estelle Kelly, has been named Salesperson of the Year for 2016 by the Honolulu chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives. SME Honolulu will honor her at its annual luncheon,…
Will Mather has bike renting down to a science. He’s able to fit a customer with the right size bike, discuss safety and road rules, equip them with a helmet and lock, and take payment for the rental, all in…
Was Your Beach Tested? The state uses a tiered system based on risk to determine which beach waters to sample for bacteria. Tier 1: These beaches take priority because they are heavily used and have factors that could influence higher…
ORIGIN: Like many origin stories, Activiter’s started in Vegas. Stuck on the Strip in the heat of the day, the company’s co-founders – Rob Lafontaine and Ikaika Sheehan – decided to see a show (mostly for the air conditioning) and waited in…
At First, It doesn’t look like much. I’ve just parked in the driveway of Shangri La, which was once the home of Doris Duke, and I’m wondering where the house is. I see a small, plain, white windowless building nearby,…
In Hawaii, the business of hotel uniforms has traditionally been messy. A hotel would contract with a company to design and produce uniforms for its staff, but a different company would clean them. If the fabric shrank or threads came…
ORIGINS: Husband and wife Andrew and Rita Fowers first met 11 years ago at Brigham Young University Hawaii in Laie, where their location inspired a company. “When I was a senior in college on the North Shore,” says Andrew Fowers,…
Iolani Sportswear president Lloyd Kawakami remembers when aloha shirts were only made in Hawaii. Today, they are produced cheaply in Asia or sold under labels such as Tommy Bahama, which have no connection to the Islands. That competition has put…
LIKE MOST PEOPLE, I think about money often. Not about what I can buy with it – though occasionally daydreaming about a shopping trip to Tokyo never hurt anybody. No, my preoccupation is with how money works and how it…
Our Sources Reliable data collection on a big scale takes time. The most recent statistics available for this report are primarily from 2014, sometimes earlier or from 2015. Our information came from many sources; here are abbreviations and acronyms we…
Eric Rose can’t forget the day a year and a half ago when a group of Japanese businessmen walked into Morning Glass, his trendy coffee house in Manoa, and suggested taking the concept to Japan. “They came in out of…
Landmarks are common sources of surf-spot names, so many have been named after businesses on shore or businesspeople who owned beachfront homes. The following examples and the stories behind the names are from John Clark’s book “Hawaii Place Names: Shores,…
Friday, 12:22 pm Bishop Museum, Kalihi Photo by Kent Nishimura As part of a show at Bishop Museum, senior science educator Hadley Andersen melts basalt cinder in a brass furnace that reaches over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. She’s wearing a fire…
Steve Jordan says sharks are often misunderstood. “Sharks are not the big, mean monsters they’re made out to be,” says Jordan, the owner and CEO of Hawaii Shark Encounters. His company’s two-hour tours teach customers about shark species and ecosystems,…
It’s not just tourists who flock to Hawaii in the winter: Humpback whales also come in droves and are especially visible from December through March. The Pailolo Channel between Maui and Molokai is the most popular place to view them, but you…
A young Japanese couple experiences a dream Hawaii vacation. They start the day riding horses along a dusty mountain trail at Kualoa Ranch. Then they cruise down Kalakaua Avenue in a convertible, lounge on Waikiki Beach and end the day parasailing.…
For an hour each month for the past four years, Shelley Umeda has put her face in the hands of aesthetician Susan Snyder, who steams and massages it, plucks out impurities and skims off a layer of dead cells to…