by: Kristy Tamashiro
Posted: / Updated:
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The two-week countdown is on for Valentine’s Day 2022. Local businesses are gearing up from restaurants, hotels to florists, but some lingering pandemic woes are making things challenging.
Valentine’s Day is the busiest time of the year for Watanabe Floral. Shipping delays have impacted them all year long, but they are hoping it will not put a damper on the day of love.
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“The bigger issue right now is the transportation and making sure that there’s enough lift to get out of South America and then get everything to Hawaii,” said Monty Pereira, Watanabe Floral’s general manager.
Luckily, roses are in stock, but Watanabe Floral is still crossing its fingers on other items.
“The filler-type flowers, like just the greens or the baby’s breath. Those are the items that are really short right now,” Pereira said.
Pereira said customers should put their orders in early this year. The same goes for restaurant reservations. With the big game the day before, eateries are looking forward to the Valentine’s Day weekend rush.
“All these holidays coming, that would really help the restaurants in general in business,” said Ave Kwak, the vice-chair of Hawaii Restaurant Association. “The restaurant cards, a lot of people still have it so please spend it in our restaurants. We depend on some of these holidays to get the customers back.”
Now, for those looking to book a staycation, industry experts said it might be too late.
“We always think of the most romantic island as Kauai, and I just called a couple of properties over there and they’re all full,” said Jerry Agrusa, University of Hawaii TIM professor. “So one of them doesn’t have a room from the 10th through the 20th.”
Meanwhile, Hawaii’s Party City said while it has the bulk of its Valentine’s Day inventory ready, some items are still coming in.
“The balloons, which is what most people want, that’s ready,” said Andrew Shum, the vice president of operations for Party City in Hawaii. “There’s less candy this year for us, but that really wasn’t an omicron thing that was more just our vendor had some problems on the mainland on their own.”
Local businesses are asking for support and patience this Valentine’s Day.
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“Local businesses could not have survived this without the support of the public and we’re very grateful,” said Pereira.
