They’re considered the chosen ones because small business owners consider the made in hawaii festival the event of the year.
"This is the hugest event for us all year, we attend three events, this one’s the biggest for us," says Jerome Furukawa, Kona Chips.
It’s easy enough to understand why, for the next three days, the festival will draw some 38 thousand people. And not just locals.
Seattle resident Ellen Matsui-Mar makes it a point to be here every year.
"I come here just for this, I work my schedule around this, because it’s wonderful, I see all the stuff I can buy and bring home" says Matsui-Mar.
"It’s a local event but it attracts a lot of people from out of the state so it really helps business that way," says Calvin Iwashita, Rocket Scientist Chili.
It’s the type of foot traffic every store owner would love. And it’s ideal for a start up business like bag swag, which makes luggage covers and straps.
"It’s amazing, from the minute that the doors opened we’ve had people swarming in, so it’s really a great great venue for getting out our products," says Patti Holmberg, Bag Swag.
Organizers of the event say it generates about three million dollars in sales and another 10 million in residual sales from buyers that come from all over the world.
"They’ll pick up these vendor products and take them back to their various parts of the world and reorder so it’s not only generating business this weekend but throughout the year helping to stimulate our economy," says Amy Hammond, festival marketing director.
Hammond says the downturn in the economy has only had a slight effect on the festival.
Probably because there are so many unique items that people make it a point to come here.
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
