Retail in the Blood

Martin & MacArthur President and CEO Michael Tam brings international marketing experience to an iconic Hawai‘i business.
As Martin & MacArthur carved out a reputation in Hawai’i for quality fine furniture–heirloom pieces like tables, cabinets and four-poster beds–Michael Tam was traveling the world honing his skills in international marketing. Born and raised on O‘ahu and a graduate from Chicago’s Northwestern University, Tam worked for a gamut of global retail companies over two-and-a-half decades. As the chief marketing officer for McDonald’s International, Tam established locations in Argentina, Greece, China, Indonesia and spent three years in Japan. He bounced to coffee mogul Starbucks as their vice president of marketing for North America and developed new food programs and introductions. From there he went to Nordstrom as their executive vice president for product development of the house brands and private labels. He followed that up with chief marketing officer positions at America Eagle Outfitters and Borders Books respectively. “I have a strong background leading national and international retailers,” exclaims Tam, matter-of -factly.
Back in 1961, furniture builder Jon Martin was bucking a trend. As western culture— including Hawai‘i—gobbled up Formica, plastic and linoleum home furnishings and décor imported from China, Jon was building classic plantation style fine furniture made from koa wood. After several years in business, Doug MacArthur came on board as a partner with the shared vision of reviving the popularity of koa furniture and offering a livelihood for local fine furniture craftsmen.
When Tam’s business partner, Simon McKenzie (currently Martin & MacArthur’s chairman and chief financial officer) got wind that Jon MacArthur was looking to sell Martin & MacArthur, Tam knew this was his opportunity to bring his wealth of marketing knowhow back to Hawai‘i, to a locally-owned and operated company that upheld business and community values he found appealing. “Retail is my passion, marketing is my passion, but in line with that I always felt that I should be coming back to Hawai‘i because Hawai‘i is where my roots are,” Michael says.
In 2008, Tam and McKenzy took over the business just as the Great Recession was setting in. They were looking at two retail stores with declining sales and 15 master craftsmen just trying to make ends meet. As other craftsman shops were scaling back and closing, Tam did the unthinkable. He hired 15 more master craftsmen and began reinvesting in the company.
Hist first step waast to evolve the furniture lune and update it from solely monarchy furniture, steeped in plantation, missionary and arts and crafts styles. Taking advantage of popular international styles, Martin & MacArthur started producing Biedermeier style pieces, named the Queen Emma line. The style highlights contrasting light and dark koa wood and features gentle curves with a subtle, conservative and clean look. The grand pieces still comprise their best selling line. In 2013, they launched the Moana Collection, inspired by the casual elegant living visitors enjoyed at the Moana Surfrider of yesteryear. The dimensionally smaller pieces are tailored for second homes, condos and the smaller dwellings of empty nesters.
After reinvigorating public interest in koa furniture by updating the styles, Tam focused on their master craftsmen. He installed new equipment and machinery in the Kalihi workshop and updated his crew to state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and techniques. “The loyalty that we had to the craftsmen is paying back now because they are passionate about Martin & MacArthur,” Tam relates. “It’s more than a paycheck to them. It’s a livelihood.” And according to Tam, Martin & MacArthur is the only fine furniture manufacturer in Hawai‘i that has it’s own apprentice program. Apprentices study for 10 to 12 years to hone their craft. While assisting master craftsmen, they learn the history, styles and ethos of the company, as well as how to build each type of furniture in the shop, from the classic lines to the new collections. This is extremely important to Tam because master craftsmen at Martin & MacArthur are generalists, meaning they can build any piece of furniture form start to finish.

Top: Master craftsmen create a single piece of furniture from start to finish, from selecting and cutting each piece of raw koa lumber to assembling the entire product. Bottom: Martin & MacArthur has ramped up production of personal and home accessories, like these solid koa picture frames. Opposite page: Each piece of fine furniture is handmade on site at the Kalihi workshop.

“I’m interested in being part of a company that’s investing back in something more long-standing than just importing items from Asia and selling it,” says Tam. “I’m involved wit h a company making something in Hawai‘i with raw materials from here, and there are precious few of those companies.”
Tam has found his pure play at Martin & MacArthur, a company that is vertically integrated, meaning the raw materials are sourced from Hawai‘i, the business directlysupports local artisans and the local economy and the products are created, manufactured and sold in Hawai‘i. It’s the epitome of a truly sustainable local business. Yet Martin & MacArthur takes sustainability one step further. Perpetuated by Jon Martin in 1961, Tam carries on the tradition of sourcing only dead or fallen koa trees from Big Island plantation owners, never buying koa that was cut down for profit. Tam also boast that Martin & McArthur is also the biggest reforester of koa in the world, working with plantation owners to reforest koa where it has been removed from Big Island forests. They also partner with Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods to help permanently reforest the Hamakua Coast by planting koa Legacy Trees on behalf of their customers for each piece of furniture sold.
Since 2008, Tam has taken the company from two to 11 stores across the state and increased the staff to 120 employees, a strong and hard-working medium-sized company, Tam says. Possibly, one of the biggest changesTam introduced at Martin & MacArthur has been his most successful endeavor. Recognizing that koa furniture is expensive, an investment that is not accessible to most Hawai‘i residents, Tam found a way to bring the style and elegance of koa to the masses through personal products like watches, handbags, sunglasses, picture frames, cutting boards and even iPad and iPhone cases. “This has allowed us to approach our market in a different way so now people see koa as something distinctive that they can have as opposed to something left at home when you go to work,” explains Tam, as they are now able to furnish the home and the person. “We moved koa from just a piece of furniture to wearable art. The whole idea now is that this wood is now wearable. It’s a sign and distinction of style and fashion.”
Michael Tam leans back in his chair. He sports a koa watch and has a koa cover for his iPad. On the second floor of the Kalihi production facility and quaint showroom, Tam is never far from his retail employees or the customers coming through the door. “This is an approachable company without a lot of layers,” says Tam. “Throughout the year, including the weekends, I’m working at the stores. During the holiday and summer season, I’m in the stores three or four days a week, helping out, greeting customers. I love that. Retail is in my blood. I do that out of passion, not obligation.”