Uniforms Hawaii Outfits Working Islanders

The Uniforms Hawaii Corporation, shortened to the name Uniforms Hawaii is not in the part of town one would call downtown Oahu, but the location is central so either side of the island has easy access.

“We are a niche market,” says owner Lynette Sugiyama. “We’re on a second floor of what started off as mostly a business office area. While the spot has attracted more retail, we don’t get much walk-in traffic. When people do come in, they usually buy. I am so shocked if they don’t buy.”

Sugiyama’s aunt and uncle, Harry and Edith Ikeda, were the former owners, having purchased the operation in 1969. Around 1989, Edith became ill. Sugiyama was ready to leave her job as an insurance adjuster at Allstate, and the family needed someone to take over the business. At that time, the business was primarily blue goods and had three employees.

Since then, Sugiyama has not looked back. “It’s a positive environment. You’re providing uniforms for people who just got a job. They’re excited, and I get excited for them. We tell them good luck, wish them well and tell them to send their friends over!”

Uniforms Hawaii now has nine employees, five full time and four part time. There were more, but in 2003, the firm downsized as a result of a large nursing strike on the island.

“And what happens during these types of events, in Hawaii at least, is everybody clenches their fists and stops spending any money while something major is happening in the world. So I have found that as soon as those things happen we have to watch what we buy-watch our budget. A bus strike, a teachers’ strike, all those things involve families and they will tighten up,” she says.

Uniforms Hawaii occupies 4,200 square feet of space. “We are the largest retail uniform store in Hawaii. But that’s not to say much. I’ve walked into stores in Long Beach, Calif. that are double our size. But our population is only a million people. And actually, even though we’re on Oahu, which is a main island with the state capital and everything, we also service Maui and the Big Island, which is the island called Hawaii.”

Customers do not island hop just to pick up uniform apparel though. The store ships routinely around the Hawaiian islands. The store keeps a toll-free number as well and uses e-mail to provide off-site customer service.

Having started exclusively with blue goods, Uniforms Hawaii now sells many major uniform categories.

“I think blue goods are about 40% of our business at this point,” Sugiyama says. “The white goods have just taken over. Over the past 14 years, white goods has really grown. Now, most of my blue good inventory is in back, with samples available up front.”

Uniforms Hawaii handles the fire departments of Honolulu, Maui, the Big Island and Kauai. To augment its sales in this area, the store offers souvenirs with the fire department’s insignias on them, which it also sells to the general public. There are t-shirts, bags, sweatshirts and more. The fire category represents one of Uniform Hawaii’s biggest departments, second only to the white goods.

The store manages uniform programs for security companies, service stations and the SWAT Team for the Honolulu Police Department. The firm programs a number of air conditioning companies as well.

The company does not currently have an employee devoted to outside sales. “A lot of times, I will go out myself if the customer wants to see samples. We are a small business, and everybody who works here – from sales to sewing – when we need you, you go. You might have to pack boxes, load a truck, sweep or do whatever it takes to run this business. One thing great about the staff I have is that they all pitch in. I don’t even have to ask. They are the best staff I’ve ever had. No employer could expect what I get from my employees.”

The firm also offers their own exclusive line of Hawaiian scrubs. Uniforms Hawaii selects all the materials and has the items made in different styles.

“Because, in Hawaii, the Aloha shirts and the Muu Muus, that type of material is so common, but we couldn’t find anyone who could offer us that much of a selection in uniform styles, so we just decided to do it ourselves. It’s indigenous to our area. We make scrub caps, the tops, even baby blankets and stethescope covers in the Hawaiian print.”

Sugiyama is confident the economy is on an upward trend, for uniforms at least. She has observed that people are starting to buy again. Still, Sugiyama monitors her inventory closely, at times wondering if she has too much. “I think a lot of stores have problems with that,” she says.

Uniforms Hawaii is fully computerized. The company has gone through many systems and hopes the current one is its last. All merchandise going in and out is tracked through the computer system.

“You can tell without having to run back to look how many shirts you have. We do an inventory once a year, and unfortunately find out how much loss we’ve had [due to theft or errors].”

There are two computer stations up front for sales, and two in the back for everything else. Service is handled in the back.

The firm has a one-head embroidery machine in-house, which “runs all day, every day,” according to Sugiyama. The company sends larger jobs out for embroidery and monogram work. “If you have some embroidery capacity in-house, you can do a rush order and control the time. To me, this is really excellent service, because we can just go in the back of the store and say, ‘I need this now.’ And it gets done.”

The company advertises in the yellow pages and sends out flyers. “We have enough business to keep us going. and we’re really blessed with referrals,” says Sugiyama. “When customers are happy they will tell other people about our service.”

The store now offers a wide selection of promotional products as well. “The first time I attended the National Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors (NAUMD) convention, we also decided to sign up for an Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) convention. Both organizations have helped us.”

When pressed for an answer, Sugiyama admits she would not tell her niece to go into the uniform business just now.

“I’d tell her to go to college. Seriously, 10 years ago, my kids were still in grade school, and I asked them, ‘I need to know, are you guys coming into the business? I’m making a hundred-year plan!'” Her son now works at Boeing Satellite Systems but does stay involved in the business, helping the company maintain its web page.

“It’s a fresh perspective, even if he’s not here day to day. He’ll give me pointers, actually. ‘Hey, Mom, there’s a really big market for these really cheap scrubs.’ And I kept saying, ‘Who wants to buy cheap scrubs?’ But sure enough, we brought in cheap scrubs and they’re selling like crazy. I didn’t want to do it, but you have to listen to your customers. They don’t mind, if we’re honest with them. You know, these things are not the best quality, but that’s what they want. They want the price. We’ll offer it to them.”

The weather is nice all year round in Hawaii. A temperature of 70 degrees is normal. What little outerwear Uniforms Hawaii sells is sporty-style jackets to the fire departments. The security firms may have guards on a night shift who wear a jacket. In Hawaii when it gets down in the 60s, everyone takes out their “winter jackets.”

As for footwear, the store reports selling a lot of clogs. The inventory also includes safety shoes for the fire department.

“We just keep the samples on hand, and then we order as needed,” says Sugiyama. “Some products we keep in inventory, such as the industrial boots for the working guys.”

On the headwear front, the company sells many Hawaii Fire Department hats, such as baseball caps with the patch, which is a souvenir item. For the condominium buildings, they offer specialty caps.

What does the future hold?

Uniforms Hawaii gave up its license to sell U.S. Postal uniforms and is looking into being licensed again. “We just figured if we had the space and there’s still a need that we would look into bringing that in.” Because it is so expensive to do business in Hawaii, there is no talk of additional locations for this firm. The state of Hawaii requires employers to provide insurance to anyone working over 20 hours a week. There is a general excise tax. “The rents are atrocious,” says Sugiyama. “I pay around $8,000 a month for 4,200 square feet of second-floor location! But we’ve grown twice already.”

Six years ago, the company took over more space on the floor and now occupies the entire wing of the building. About 30% of the space is devoted to offices and storage. The other 70% is retail.

“I pride myself on hiring the best I can,” says Sugiyama. “I don’t go for minimum-wage people. If you are going to spend time training someone, it should be someone that is going to stay with you. And then they are loyal. And the people that are going to be with you have to be smart. You can train anybody if they are smart, but you can’t train dumb. I’ve tried. Sometimes you think people are so nice and you try, but you cannot train dumb. They have to become part of the family here. We all work together. That’s the most important thing – that people are friendly and have respect for each other.”

Sugiyama relies on her store manager, Nora Lee to run the day-to-day operations. She worked for 23 years at a department store and has been with Uniforms Hawaii for 11 years.

“She is an anchor. We make decisions jointly,” says Sugiyama. “Employees have to be honest in every way. Communicating. Not stealing. When hiring, I try to make sure I spend enough time with someone. I try to have multiple interviews with someone before hiring. I use referrals a lot; someone who knows someone. “Employees make your business. I am blessed with the ones I have.”

Uniforms Hawaii
1130 North Nimitz Hwy., Suite B 297
Honolulu, HI 96817
808-536-6699