Kona Commons honored with Pualu Award
Kona Commons was honored recently with a Pualu Award from the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce for the shopping center’s resilience, business innovation, and aloha exhibited during the economic crisis created by the pandemic.
The chamber annually recognizes businesses, organizations and individuals that work together to provide business leadership and community service in West Hawaii. This year the chamber asked members to submit stories of how they supported the community in a meaningful way, and/or demonstrated leadership and innovation while facing the global pandemic.
The chamber team that judged the award entries commented that they were impressed with the positive comments from merchants regarding the center’s support during the pandemic, and that instead of businesses shutting their doors, new businesses were working to open their doors.
“Despite the difficulties of this past year, Kona Commons skillfully provided leadership that resulted in positive impacts for its tenants, contractors and our community. The Center’s innovative approach to tackling COVID-19 challenges enabled its businesses to stay informed, open safely and, ultimately, serve their customers. General Manager Nancy Sakamoto and the entire team at Kona Commons are deserving recipients of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce 2021 Pualu Award for Business Innovation,” said Wendy Laros, president and CEO of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce.
While Kona Commons was no exception to the struggles which businesses faced during the pandemic, the shopping center, with the support of its ownership and Sakamoto, was able to survive and thrive. Management used innovative and creative tactics, that supported everyone at the center. When pandemic protocols allowed, the center also restarted its popular monthly Artisan Markets, which brought shoppers to the center, benefiting merchants as well as the market vendors.
Further, Kona Commons kept a 40,000-square-foot renovation project moving forward and secured three merchants, including Old Navy and Verizon.
Not one business closed during the pandemic, and some businesses netted a larger return in 2020 than in 2019. Their success meant the continued employment of more than 250 workers in the retail, food and beverage, services, and construction industries. These frontline workers were able to provide needed services to the community throughout the pandemic.
US home sales stall
In the most competitive housing market in U.S. history, sales are beginning to stall.
Home transactions fell 1.2% in June from May, the largest drop for the month in records going back to 2012, according to seasonally adjusted data from Redfin Corp. The inventory reached an all-time low, with buyers scooping up properties in 14 days, the fastest pace ever.
Remote work combined with rock-bottom mortgage rates unleashed a stampede of buyers to the suburbs and affordable cities across the U.S. The median home price in June jumped 25% from a year earlier to a record $386,888.
“We entered a new phase of the housing market,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a statement. “Prices have increased beyond what many buyers can afford.”
Values rose from a year earlier in all of the 85 metro areas Redfin tracks. The biggest jump was in Austin, Texas, at 43%. Following were Lake County, Illinois, with a 31% gain, and Phoenix, at 30%.
San Francisco, one of the country’s most expensive markets, had the smallest increase, at 2.6%.
American Airlines to cancel voluntary leaves for flight attendants
American Airlines plans to cancel voluntary leaves taken by its flight attendants in November, December and January, as it anticipates an uptick in holiday travel will create a need for extra staffing.
According to a letter from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants to its 28,000 members, it’s unclear how many leaves will be canceled. Under a July 2020 agreement between the Fort Worth-based airline and the union, the carrier can cancel or reduce leaves with at least 60 days notice if a need for more flight attendants arises.
Voluntary leaves were one of the steps American Airlines took last year to slow its losses as the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the air travel industry. The airline offered pilots voluntary leaves ranging from a month to six months and up to a year for flight attendants. Both groups were also offered early retirement packages.
In April and May of last year, 4,800 pilots were given leaves and 715 were granted early retirement. Some 7,200 flight attendants took leave and 760 retired early.
Over one year after the company gave about a third of its staff leaves and retirement packages, American is ramping operations back up as flights started filling up again in March and the company reported generating income in June, the first month in over a year.
On Tuesday, American Airlines said it’s on track toward recovery, boasting multiple company bests in a quarterly investor update.
The airline has gone from losing $100 million a day at the height of the pandemic to making $1 million a day in the three-month period from April through June, according to a letter to employees from CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom.
The company already recalled a number of furloughed flight attendants before the summer travel season.