Hawaii's Retailer of the Year told BYU-Hawaii students that while education is vital to success, they also have to put their heart and soul into business dreams.
In the final 2002-03 Entrepreneurship Lecture Series presentation, Price Busters president Elizabeth "Beth" Tom, recounted how she "barely graduated from high school" on the mainland, married young, and came to Hawaii.
She was working as a retail buyer while pregnant with her first child when she opened up Price Busters "purely by accident."
Tom, who now oversees 10 discount stores on Oahu, talked her way into managing a boutique while still a junior in high school. She said that early on she "realized that I was born to be a retailer." She added that she took a big pay cut when she followed her first husband to Hawaii and accepted a job as a buyer with Jean's Warehouse.
"It didn't take me long to realize that I hated to buy clothing," Tom said. "I had to do something different with my life." Tom took $3,500 from savings, went to Los Angeles where she bought jewelry, which she then sold at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. "That's everybody's entrepreneur grounds," she added.
Tom explained the costume jewelry business was just going into an up-trend in 1985 when she started importing merchandise from the mainland and started E.R.T. Sales of Hawaii, Inc.
"It was very difficult to give birth to three children and start a business," Tom continued. "The company serviced just about every store on the island, and provided private labels for Liberty House. We also owned the private label, LH Kids, for Liberty House children's accessories."
Despite the growth, Tom said E.R.T. was "was totally nonprofit, meaning the business wasn't making money. But if you have inventory, you have to turn it into something. I took it to a factory outlet, and turned it into cash. One month I did $28,000 dollars."
Then turning to her father, Tom relayed how she bought a toy company that became the catalyst for the first Price Busters, which opened in Kaneohe in 1992 with seven employees. "I went in to buy $10,000 worth of toys, and ended up buying the company. I thank God for the 'Bank of Dad,' who believed in me," Tom said.
She especially credits much of her success to her late mother. "Envisioning her throughout my life has inspired me to succeed," she added.
Tom admitted starting Price Busters was very difficult, "but I realized this is what I loved the most. My dream was to be the biggest Price Busters," she said.
The business soon started to expand, but to complicate things, Tom said that about this same time, she was going through a divorce from her first husband, and then Liberty House declared bankruptcy. "We had over $400,000 of merchandise, which we couldn't get out of there."
Tom credits her banker for giving the company a $200,000 line of credit that carried her over. The president of the bank later nominated her as Retailer of the Year, which she won last year.
"The only thing better for me than winning Retailer of the Year would be winning Mother of the Year. That would be better," she said. "It was wonderful. People say you're successful, but we're still working on it."
For example when Price Busters took over a location across from Aloha Stadium, Tom said, "Never in my life did I believe I would open a 23,000 square foot store."
Tom also credits local customers "who obviously enjoy buying our products at a great value."
She added, "Price Busters sells dry cereal for as low as 99 cents a box, every day. We also carry one of the largest selections of candy." She also credited her second husband who has "taken our candy and food business through the roof. He generated an extra $80,000 in revenues from food in one store."
Tom pointed out that there are still many challenges. She said freight charges for a 40-foot container from the mainland costs about $5,500 -- approximately half the cost of containers coming from other destinations, because most containers are sent back to the mainland empty. "Freight costs are why we don't have a lot of competition over here."
She has plans to expand four stores, is thinking of opening at least one more, and has been encouraged to expand to the neighbor islands and even the mainland.
"Price Busters is a blessing from God for me. So is my husband," Tom added. "The day Liberty House filed bankruptcy, I truly thought I died. Now I believe that was a turning point.