These major initiatives seem to be paying off. Sales have grown at double-digit rates in both 1998 and 1999. The construction industry has suffered for many years, but signs of recovery are on the horizon. This growth has been felt both in residential and commercial and industrial permits. Retailing With the recovery in our economy, we expect retailing to go up as well.
Retailing is the most visible industry and a big part of the economy.
As manufacturing is very small in Hawaii, meeting high demand for retail businesses requires importing from the mainland and other places. This is reflected in the large difference between gross sales and GSP value of retailing. There are about 7,800 establishments. But, there are also a large number of self-employed retailers, as many as 5,000, that are not included in the 7,800 statistic. Retailing, also is difficult to define, because it includes many subgroups such as retailing of apparel, furniture, auto, building materials and eating and drinking establishments, etc.