Liberty House "Hawaii's Finest Department Store"

“Our motto was ‘first, best and only.”

It was considered a place to get the fancy clothes and was middle-end store and some things there were high-end. The smell in the air conditioning seem to have this sort of crisp linen smell to it almost like smelling new clothes. People knew the Liberty House label on the clothes and had a feeling that it would last longer than other brands and that it would soon hold some nice memories to it. 

Liberty House had buyers so that they would go and check to see if there were any quality products and they would evaluate them, but a lot of that changed when Macy’s would tend to sell leftovers from other stores or cheaper brands. Liberty House would support all sorts of local artisans where there were sculptures, paintings, wood works, painted glass, and it would have locals and visitors alike stopping by to see and buy those beautiful works of art… after Macy's took over..they slowly pushed each of them out until there was none of those artisans left and iit was replaced by mass produced products that were sold the same as anywhere else.

The logo was an outline of a hibiscus and before then it was just script textography with the colors teal that was greenish blue. Then a hot magenta with mustard yellow with a zigzag motion over a white background. Lastly to a navy blue and gold yellow until the end of days with Macy’s also having a hibiscus that was more generic and discontinued shortly after in hopes people would forget the flower and Liberty House as department store and a brand.

Celebrities would shop there like Diana Ross, Tom Selleck, Michael Jackson, James Brian Hellwig (The Ultimate Warrior), Bruce Jenner, Julia Nickson. Imelda Marcos (First Lady of the Philippines) would buy tons of stuff there and point at what she wanted and the store would close just for her and she would buy tons in several hours with her staff getting payments ready.

There were Waves of new employees with Liberty House being a place people could start out and have a working experience in a wonderful atmosphere. Many peoples first jobs in retail would be there as a seasonal hire and keep on working in a particular department or network with other workers to get around to other locations. 

Liberty House Employee Handbook, would make sure there were some instructions on how to do things and that helped people learn with a caliber of hospitality and customer service people would remember. 

On top of that there was a Management Training Course they would have all their managers go through to make sure there was a consistency within their ranks.

The main office wanted the employees all to look stylish it was a thing of theres and they sure were strict on it to make sure that from management to the part time workers were wearing something from the store. They always would say that the people wanted to see fashion on the floor and that something had to be fashionable and that was the reasoning for the discount, so many people wouldn’t mind if they liked spending money. Those credit cards would sure fill up fast too even though there was the Employees of 35% employee discount and could shop on their breaks. They accommodated locals with merchandise that fit the local color schemes, sizes and styles. Women had to wear dress shoes and stockings everyone was nicely dressed but we were not making much.

Employee Cafeteria, 

Liberty House used to sell Shave Ice Machines (Da Shave Ice Machine) where it said “make ono Hawaiian-style shaved ice”. That's when people would make frosty drinks with Shave Ice at their home bars and add fruits or all sorts of experimental desserts and stuff. People still would use Malolo Syrups at that time and 

Head Shots at Liberty House, 

Kid’s Department,

Linen Department,

Foundations Department (Lingerie), 

Wrapping Department

There was complimentary gift wrapping where a customer could pick a special paper and bow if you wanted to pay a little more.Liberty House had such a great selection of paper to choose from. The people working in the wrapping department had wonderful talent to wrap with families looking forward to the special gift wrapped gifts or if they were watching they would anticipate the outcome of their gift on who was going to get it. Nothing better than a gift wrapped gift from Liberty House. Talk about style, but sadly it has become a lost art, Perfect wrapping, making the bows, and doing it better than the staff at Shirokiya with the Hawaii Wrapping Techniques. You could get a not so great gift, but with excellent wrapping the gift was elevated. Shirokiya’s wrappers had an interesting way of wrapping, but people in Hawaii wanted it the Hawaii-style way or as the Japanese called it Hawaiian Wrapping Techniques. No matter what the occasion though they were professional wrappers. 

When things reached the warehouse people would be checking the codes because people who would be closing up for the day would be checking the numbers on the tickets. There were these product numbers and you could tell by looking at the code if it matched and then there would be a color number with this large corresponding chart that employees had to look at. Some people would take the tickets home to spend more hours off the clock to get everything in by the next day. The information were the numbers and it would tell you when using the corresponding chart, like 001 would mean it's pants and for the color 02 might be food white or color 03 would be black in the inventory. It would be to show what products sold and thinking back it was crazy but that's how everything was manualing it all the way back in the day.

“Liberty House department store, there’s more for you on every floor”

The Safari Sale, 

The Zoopersale, was an annual sale where the employees would see all the people waiting outside and it definitely was an event as they would wait for the doors to open. And then everyone would come rushing in, just so many shoppers at once, it was scary, but exciting too. People would refer to it as a “Mad House” where there were people shopping like crazy as if they were mad and that was one of those sayings that is still used when people go nuts in a store. It was also a time that young ladies had their mothers complaining to them for bringing home bags of clothes and shoes when there was already not too much room in the house and they already had plenty stuff. While it was exciting it was really would bust you up with just how many customer transactions were going on and the constant stalking and the crazy customers, but there were some people who liked the thrills. 

The Gazebo (Pearl Ridge)

Garden Court (before the Pineapple Room by Alan Wong), they had these Apple Pie with Cheese sauce and good Lilikoi Chiffon Pie. Some other things were the Cheese Pockets and the buttery Half-moon Crescents with Raspberry Jam and powdered with sugar. 

Hackfeld's Restaurant (Ala Moana) was located on the ground floor of Liberty House near the men’s department as well as a Men’s Salon next door. The place brought some germanic class and an intimate setting. It was named after the founding family of Hackfeld’s Dry Goods and would be known to serve a bread basket, salad, and have a nice menu. There were beef tips, german potato pancakes, shrimp in avocado, and more.

Liberty House Warehouse was located at Campbell Industrial where the branch stores would have their buyers and or assistant buyers sort and split up merchandise. 

Liberty House Distribution Center was located at Barbers Point.

Fort street Liberty House, was always well taken care of and there were really interesting displays like the animated decorations in the front windows, train sets, dancing animals, clowns, varies lightings. It was a bit pricier, but not the priciest as there was quality places that sold things less Hawaii, while at Liberty House there was a lot of local stuff in there.  

Kailua Liberty House (Kailua)

A few remember that it was one of the few places that had Cub Scout uniforms.

Windward Mall Liberty House (Kaneohe)

Pearl Ridge Liberty House (Aiea)

Ala Moana Liberty House (Town), 

Hackfeld's Dry Goods "The Pre-Liberty House"

Hackfeld's Dry Goods was started from assorted cargo that was brought in from Germany and this was dry goods, crockery, hardware, stationary, and what have you on Oahu. It was formed by German trader and Sea Captain Heinrich Hackfeld on September 26, 1849, with his wife Marie Hackfeld, Johann Carl Pflueger, and B.F. Ehlers. The store was a hit especially with the traders of the seas and moved to a larger location on Fort Street where it was known as “Hale Kilika” or the house of silk and named B.F. Ehler’s named after the nephew by 1852 as Hackfeld had much more ambitious plans to develop a importing business based on machinery, supplies, and exports of raw sugar. Hackfeld and Family continued to maintain an interest in the store, while concentrating on trading, shipping, and real-estate interests. 

In 1881, Paul Isenberg (1837–1903) became half partner in the business with his experience of beijing the manager of Līhuʻe Plantation 19 years at that point knowing about the development of the sugar plantations of Kauai. 

H. Hackfeld & Co and Germans of Old Hawaii: In 1898 the Hackfeld and Isenberg family interests in Hawaii were officially reorganized as H. Hackfeld & Co. They had their main office building on Oahu and Branches in Hilo Hawaii, Kailua Hawaii, and Lahaina Maui. The company was really strong with their deals they had with the plantations and supplying so many of the goods from the General Merchandise for the stores that were there and they were at that time really invested in “Hawaiian Coffee”. A german company they were really into bringing in interest of beer to the islands and they were trying to meet with companies that were good with their Barley Malt, Hops, and no corn, which they thought they could think of Hawaii Beer or work a deal with Anheuser Busch Brewing and they were an agent for bringing their products into Hawaii. 

They would connect with some of the largest networks of Pacific Steam Shipping companies that would allow to be a huge controller of the shipping industry of goods through their business connections. These steam ship companies would have Steam Ships that would be called “Steamers” back then. Pacific Mail S.S. Co would connect China, Brazil, Illinois (usa). Occidental and Oriental S.S. Co, Toyo Kisen Kaisha, American-Hawaiian S.S. Co, Bremen and Liverpool Line of Packets, Pacific Guano and Fertilizer Co. Representatives that would meet up in honolulu to discuss business would be all whole list of plantations such as: Lihue Plantation (Kauai), Grove Farm Plantation (Kauai), Koloa Sugar Company (Kauai), Kekaha Sugar Company (Kauai), Pioneer Mill Co (Lahaina Maui), Kipahulu Sugar Coo (Kipahulu Maui), Hawaii Mill Co (Hilo Hawaii), Kukalau Plantation Co (Hawaii), Oahu Sugar Co (Waipahu Oahu). 

Johann Hackfield was the son of a farmer and master tailor who had a good idea of how the product came from one route to another and saw through his family the handling of goods and services. He attended business school and completed an apprenticeship at Papendieck & Co in Germany which gave him international business as he would compare how business was done in both Germany and Hawaii as he worked for his uncle at Hackfeld as a clerk. He would deal with the shipping companies, sugar plantations, and understand exportation procedures and papers for sugar and tropical fruits. By 1881 Johann worked with his uncle Hinrich Hackfeld as a business partner, meanwhile a fellow German Paul Isenberg would establish connections as a partner of Hackfeld Sugar Factory at that time as well where he would be the company aire with his wife Beta Isenberg. As the years went on Isenberg would start to have stomach aches and was tired as well as not feeling great and this would have the company discussing who would run it if the worse were to come. In 1903, The Hackfeld company would be notified of Isenberg's death and the company would remain with Johann Hackfeld and Beta Isenberg after the death.

A Company of America: In 1917, during World War I, both Johann Hackfeld and Beta Isenberg were in Bremen Germany where the company was confiscated by the US. Due to the escalations of war taking the world by storm they would decide not to return to Hawaii. In 1918 at the height of World War I, H. Hackfeld & Co. was seized by the American government as alien property (since many of the Hackfeld and Isenberg heirs still lived in Germany), and was sold to a newly formed consortium, American Factors. With Hackfeld working with many of the plantations it was no surprise that an American Plantation would pick them up knowing that many of their views were similar with supporting those in favor of annexation through a strict lens of race and business opportunities of the Pacific. This would be in opposition to other Germans who were in support of the royal family for the kingdom's ties with Germany.

The trustee of the enemy property appointed by the US government sold the company's shares below value to competing companies, thereby dissolving the company. The family would go on to live with their riches and in their later years donate dto the community of Ganderkesee “Hackfeld School Fund” and then Marie Gesine Hackfeld and Wobetha Magaretha Isenberg donated a large part of their assets to the Hanseatic city of Bremen. This would result in the end of much of the German ownership in Hawaii due to the war.

In 1918, American Factors (Amfac) who were part of the Big Five would have great land ownership through these acquisitions of German Plantations, Companies, and Shipping networks. With the company being sold there was still anti-German sentiment attached to its history and the company was looking for a new name, so they hosted a new name contest, with the winner receiving a $50 prize. Meanwhile to avoid further liability and criticisms of the sugar operations they would be renamed "American Factors". The old Hackfeld company would have a third floor added for $143,000. It would have to be a name that was patriotic and to clarify that the Hackfeld company would clearly be under American ownership and that name that was selected would be “Liberty House”.

There would be many anxious customers who would attend the cooking demos and the various events from different countries that Liberty House would bring in. A few people remember were: Master Pottery sculpture from Italy, Master bread Baker from Germany, ?????, ?????.

1950s, this was a time before the famous Ala Moana store and there were no UPC scanning devices to make the process fast, so it was really slow. Employees back then would have to separate clothing ticket stubs to know what sold and it was really tedious work.

In 1960’s, 

There were many cute muu muu’s, dresses, aloha shirts, but there was so much inventory at the time they would recruit High school students to do it. They had carried lots of local lines of women's clothes and had way better sales than the mainland competitors. There was also a fashion group called the Hi Board that was directed by Ele & Walt Delaney who use to write teen advice column of the newspaper called the Honolulu Advertiser.

In 1970, 

In 1980s, Pegge Hopper designed a shopping bag for Liberty House.

Staff: Mary Alice Wetzel (Senior Vice President), Charlie Ondayog Sznajder (Credit Office), Robert Young, Fran Kauwe, Rosemary Dunn, Michael Okumura (IT), Elizabeth Ondayog (Gift Wrapping), Jenni Kim-Tojio (Gift Wrapping), Margaret Tamanaha (Gift Wrapping), Angela Vega (Gift Wrapping), Helen Self (Gift Wrapping), Cecelia Smith (Gift Wrapping), Lori Roman (Pearl Ridge. Handbags), Barbara Ann Keola Bazzy (Handbags), Renato Gabriel (Cashier), Sandra Lee Garcia (Warehouse), Edna (Cosmetics. Pearl Ridge), Karla Reed Derton (Pearl Ridge), Patricia Shannon, Earl Young (Pearl Ridge), June Dayao (Ala Moana), Melissa Lui (Floater),  Joan Krakowiak (Floater), Debra Graham, Roy Chang, Linda Hata, Jocelyn Irons, Jana Trazo, Greg Casey, Tua Zydek, Edith Cox (Security), Laura Kiyabu (Pearl Ridge), Margot Nakagawa (Pearl Ridge), Cece Brady,