What's The Fuss About Liberty House?

This morning's Advertiser had a column about Liberty House. Lee Cataluna must be mad at Macy's or she is running out of things to say. She recalled that all of Hawaii measured their lives by Liberty House sales like The Zooper Sale.

Not me. Here's what I recall: a company that kept Hawaii locked in previous decades by bringing in clothes that were so style-less that people who could afford it went to the mainland to shop. A company that spent years blocking other department stores from Ala Moana Center due to an exclusivity clause in it's lease. A company that tried to convince us that they really cared about Hawaii because they had black and white pictures going up the side of the escalators at their Kailua store.

Liberty House was a big "Hawaii" brand that didn't keep its promise. That's why it is gone.