Question about Small Business in Hilo - To-be transplant from Japan (Kailua: rental market, houses)

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by HIguild

and five {5} papayas for $2. Sheesh.

What a ripoff! I usually get 5 for $1, or late in the day, maybe 7.

I did notice the contrast between waterfront and downtown, with little visible economic activity in the later.

Keep in mind that the old downtown and waterfront has been hit several times by disastrous tsunamis, in 1946 and 1960, so much of what you see in that area are solid old buildings at one end that were not destroyed. All the the new commercial development at Prince Kuhio Plaza and surrounds is far enough from the water and high enough to be out of harm's way.

Side note, the Pacific Tsunami Museum at 130 Kamehameha is informative and interesting, about the subject of tsunamis in general and about the devastation and loss of life that Hilo suffered.

I havta get my fill of Big Island dragon fruit.

And rambutans and loquats and calamondins and lycyhees and poha and carambolos and pummelos and pink lemons and a dozen kinds of bananas, yes, I know.

OK, here's a tip... local farmers mostly bring their produce to market in big plastic totes. And it's all SUPPOSED to be local produce. But they don't always seem to police that rule carefully, so some vendors show up with at least some boxed imported produce. For instance, if anyone has grapes, they are usually from Chile. I always check out the totes or boxes at the back of the booth or under the table for full disclosure, and I've learned certain vendors I can trust, and a few I don't. The last dragon fruit I bought was from South America, but I wanted it anyway.

By the way, if you want to be dazzled by the range of fruits that are grown in Hawai'i, check out the astonishing posters published by a rare-fruit tree grower in Pahoa: TROPICAL FRUIT TREES AND TROPICAL FRUIT SEEDS

[HIguild]

openD,

Originally Posted by OpenD

By the way, if you want to be dazzled by the range of fruits that are grown in Hawai'i, check out the astonishing posters published by a rare-fruit tree grower in Pahoa: TROPICAL FRUIT TREES AND TROPICAL FRUIT SEEDS

Holy crap! Hawaii, I love you. I'm big on diversity, and going on a bit of a tangent to the topic of this thread, here's my own list of mostly fruit and nut bearing trees in my forest garden here (pardon the Japanese, I copied and pasted):

・Dogwood x 2 ・Tea Olive ・Magnolia ( pink) ・Japanese Maple ・Ash ・Juneberry x 2 ・Mikan x 3 { 青島, 早生温州, 宮川早生} ・Persimmon x 7 ｛富有(5), 次郎(2)} ・Loquat x 7 {クイーン長崎,　田中(3)、茂木(2)｝ ・Pineapple Guava x 2 ・Olive x 4 {Mission, Cipressino, Lucca, Manzanilla} ・Buddleja (butterfly bush) x 2 ・Bay Laurel x 9 ・Orange {ハッサク} ・Linden ・Ginkgo x 4 {銀杏} ・Mulberry ・Quince x 9 {かりん(7),マルメロ(2)｝ ・Chestnut x 2 {銀寄, 森早生} ・Fig x 3 {ドーフィン} ・Crabapple x 2{アルプス乙女} ・Apple x 2{世界一(red), 夏緑(green)} ・Yuzu ・Cherry ｛サクランボ} ・Cinnamon (C. cassia) ・Chokeberry x 2 {Red, Black} ・Plum x 2{太陽,紅スモモ} ・Almond x 2 ・Silverberry x 2 {びっくりぐみ｝ ・Fir ・Stone Oak ・Elm ・Kuromoji ・Sakura ・Acacia x 2 ・Apricot・Pomegranate x 3　・Walnut　・Nanking cherry x 3　・Strawberry Guava　・Yellow strawberry Guava (lemon guava)　・Yeddow Spruce　・Date-plum (Caucasian persimmon)　・Metasequoia (Dawn Redwood)

Originally Posted by OpenD

What a ripoff! I usually get 5 for $1, or late in the day, maybe 7.

A fellow bargain hunter.

The history of the Big Island is very much fascinating to me, both in geological and humanistic contexts. Japan is too of course and that's one of the reasons I'm here today, but as you may or may not know the nuclear debacle here is exhausting to say the least.

Originally Posted by OpenD

OK, here's a tip... local farmers mostly bring their produce to market in big plastic totes. And it's all SUPPOSED to be local produce. But they don't always seem to police that rule carefully, so some vendors show up with at least some boxed imported produce. For instance, if anyone has grapes, they are usually from Chile. I always check out the totes or boxes at the back of the booth or under the table for full disclosure, and I've learned certain vendors I can trust, and a few I don't. The last dragon fruit I bought was from South America, but I wanted it anyway.

Got it.

Cheers,

HIguild

[HiloDiver]

Originally Posted by OpenD

What's next? A Lowes, perhaps, or a Sports Academy?

If you mean Sports Authority, it opened at the mall right before we moved here.

The big box stores at Prince Kuhio appear to be thriving.

I wish a Pet Supermarket would open up.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by HiloDiver

If you mean Sports Authority, it opened at the mall right before we moved here.

Gackkk, brain-burrrp. That other one. Dicks. Anyway, I was just picking examples at random of other mainland big-box stores. The only one I know people really want is a Costco, but I don't know if Hilo has a big enough population to support it.

Anyway, looking at personal business possibilities, weren't you the person who said Hilo needs pet walker / pet sitter services? There's an opportunity right there, HIguild.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Anyway, looking at personal business possibilities, weren't you the person who said Hilo needs pet walker / pet sitter services? There's an opportunity right there, HIguild.

Email I received today:

Hello Friends of name redacted,


I am emailing to let you know that name redacted has made the difficult decision to close our doors after 5 years in business.


As some of you may know, we have been undergoing financial difficulties for many months now. Our expenses have outweighed our revenue since our inception, due to our insistence on providing the best quality service to our clients that we could. In an effort to increase revenue, we made the decision early this year to take a risk and proceed with opening a dog daycare and boarding facility, which opened in October. Because business at the facility has been slow to increase and because the demand for our existing services has dropped, we are no longer able to pay our operating expenses. We were forced to layoff all of our remaining staff last week and we have since ceased operations of the business.


Regarding the client keys we have on file... We will be opening our doors at address redacted between 9 am and 11 am this Friday, January 11th, and between 9 am and 11 am this Saturday, January 12th, to give you an opportunity to pick up your keys. After this Saturday, we will destroy any remaining keys on file.


I am very sorry that our business has not thrived as we always expected it would. name redacted and I have given all of our personal savings, time, and energy to make it work, but unfortunately it hasn't been enough. I'm also very sorry that we won't be able to continue working with you and your beloved pets.


Thank you very much for supporting our business over the years. My sincerest apologies for the inconvenience our closing may cause you. And, thanks very much for your understanding.

[HiloDiver]

Open, I was under the impression that this side of the island has more population than Kona...I'm too busy right now to actually look that up (I'll bet you know off the top of your head) so I wonder why Costco is on that side?

So far as dogsitting businesses, there is a big difference between doggy daycare/boarding facilities and what we actually lack here, businesses I've seen thriving in other places, like this one that I used countless times when I lived on the mainland. People want their dogs watched in their own homes, or in another's home, but there is no such business on this side. Sure, there are plenty of people who will watch dogs for money, but no licensed, bonded, veterinary-assistant-trained established businesses. When we took a trip recently I used Bar-King Dog Kennel and it was great, but I really would have preferred to leave the pooches at home. However, with the lack of an established, trustworthy sitting business, I ended up kenneling them. Don't get me wrong, Bar-King is GREAT, but a PITA to have to take the dogs there then pick them up...so much easier to just have someone come to the home.

Edited to add that I see that business had keys, so maybe they also did sitting...but they sure didn't do any marketing. I could not find such a service in my area when I went on vacation in November. You can't get customers without a marketing plan.

[HiloDiver]

Hmmm, thinking of another business opportunity (but you would need training and experience): dog agility training. There are many dog agility trainers here but the waiting list to get into classes is long. We arrived in August and I tried to get my budbud into classes the first week we were here, and finally, I have been able to sign him up for a class that starts in a couple of weeks.

[whtviper1]

Kona airport - over 2.6 million passengers per year.

Hilo airport - over 1.3 million passenger per year.

That is why Costco is in Kona.

[HiloDiver]

Really? I had no idea that Costco was a tourist destination.

[whtviper1]

Yep, by far, most of the business at Costco on the BI and Maui is tourist driven - probably over 3/4 of revenue from tourists.

In 6 days, the Kona airport lands more passengers the entire population of Hilo.