Hawaii and Sears go way back

Sears is such an iconic presence in American retail that a lot of people across the country were startled to hear about the impending closure of some stores in the conglomerate that now includes both Sears and Kmart outlets.

But Sears has a place in Hawaii popular culture as well. For those too young to remember the islands’ first Sears — in what became the Pawaa police headquarters, long since demolished — that was the location of the state’s first two-way escalators, according to The Hawaiian Historical Society’s website.

And, of course, Sears was the anchor in the original Ala Moana Shopping Center configuration when it opened in 1959 (among the other major tenants at the time: Woolworth, Foodland, Longs and Shirokiya), long before it sprouted into the mini-metropolis it is now.

Miano, we’ll miss you; don’t be a stranger

All things must pass, goes the famous truism, and in this case it applies to Rich Miano’s 13-year run as an assistant coach for the University of Hawaii Warriors football team. A popular figure who played for UH himself as a walk-on in 1981, then spent 11 years in the National Football League, Miano is not being retained by new head coach Norm Chow, who understandably wants to assemble his own coaching team. We wish Miano the best, and hope he lands on his feet somewhere soon, preferably in Hawaii, if this is where he wants to stay. Next up: What about assistant coaches Nick Rolovich and Dick Tomey?