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Article: Surviving on the 'friendly isle.' (business opportunities on Molokai island)
- Article from:
- Hawaii Business
- Article date:
- August 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Hawaii Business Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Keeping a retail business in the black on Molokai takes patience, perseverance and a frequent reality check. The occasional weather forecast doesn't hurt either.
Asking Molokai business owners how they've survived the state's seven-years-and-counting economic slump is like asking someone who fell off the island's famed sea cliffs what the last few seconds before impact were like.
"Seven years?" query brother-sister co-owners of Friendly Market, Jeff and Judy Egusa simultaneously. "Molokai's economy has been bad for a lot longer than that." Laughs Crystal Egusa, Jeff's wife: "You want to talk about a downturn in Asian visitors? Well ... we've never had Asian ...