For Mamo Cummings, president of the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce, the announcement yesterday of Kmart Corporation’s decline into bankruptcy was another in a series of locally deflating moves by large companies doing business on Kaua’i. The other setbacks in the
For Mamo Cummings, president of the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce, the announcement yesterday of Kmart Corporation’s decline into bankruptcy was another in a series of locally deflating moves by large companies doing business on Kaua’i.
The other setbacks in the past 14 months include the bankruptcy of American Hawai’i Cruises’ parent company, the closing of Amfac Sugar Kaua’i and the proposed merger of Hawaiian Airlines with Aloha Airlines.
The loss of jobs, which would be increased if the Kaua’i Kmart store is closed, is “a big concern for me,” said Cummings.
She said she wonders how a small island like Kaua’i can sustain two discount retail giants like Wal-Mart and Kmart. Kmart is third behind Wal-Mart and Target among discount retail stores in sales and number of stores.
In a way, though, yesterday’s announcement signals good news for small business, Cummings said.
“Small businesses are really the ones that create the jobs,” and the demise of the local Kmart, if it happens, “may help mom and pops who have hung in there gain a little back,” she said.
Still, Cummings said, there are “a lot of frowns” among employees at the two interisland airlines, at shops at the Anchor Cove shopping center impacted when bankrupted cruise ships fail to call on Nawiliwili, and others impacted by the economic woes since last Sept. 11.
