January 04, 2004
The Kama'aina Discount
We had another great day today... Tourists came and bought a bunch of stuff. I love it when tourists come in as
1. They usually have a bit of cash in their pockets, and
2. They don't ask for the "Kama'aina Discount."
Kama'aina means "child of the land" in Hawaiian. Its means" Hey I live here, I'm as local...ect" In a tourist driven economy its a big distinction. The Kama'aina pay taxes and have to live with the visitors that come here for a few days or in the case of military or folks that work for the university or the observatory, years. Because so much of the goods and services were once based on tourists paying the big bucks to buy and do things a custom developed that the locals would get a discount from the local merchants. This can be just paying the excise tax of 4.167% for your customer, to a percentage off the whole amount. Most hotels, resorts, golf courses and other attractions give large discounts to those who hold a Hawaii Drivers License...(does the DancingRainGirl have her HDL...No, she likes the wonderful photo on her California one and hasn't given it up yet...Vanity has its costs, sister...) The jewelry shop that I worked for prior to opening my own store gave 15% off...When pressed I do the same on all but a few of my items.
The trouble is that I don't mark up my items like my former employers did. They had at least a 8 to 10 time markup on their stuff. I have a 3 to 5 at the most. So that 15% takes a huge chunk out of my profits. Kama'aina see us as rich haoles from the mainland so they think that we are greedy if we don't offer the discount... That is one reason that we don't get as much repeat business as we'd like. Well, trust me,even with the kama'aina discount, BPG got almost no local business, and local business accounts for about 2/3rd of my total volume. People seem to really like our stuff so maybe its a matter of time before we get our name out and about.
A local market has one of those "rewards" cards. Turns out you can show it at all sorts of places like Hilo Hatties and other stores for a Kamaaina discount of up to 20%. I was really surprised. Also, they are giving away Hagen Daz Ice Cream for the little rewards coupons you get for so many dollars spent. I had my discount for supper. Mocha Almond Fudge. Yummy. I was ok about it until I saw the calorie content and realized that I had eaten enough calories for a month in one sitting...But it was free so maybe those calories don't count.... What do you think.
There is no such thing as a free lunch... This one is bound to stick with me for a long time. On my hips...
I wonder if the "Curves for Women" gym has a Kama'aina Discount???
