Kakaako computer
store closed

Star-Bulletin staff

CompUSA has closed one of its newly acquired stores -- the former Computer City in Kakaako near Ward Centre -- an action anticipated by some retail experts in Honolulu.

But questions remain over a 30,000-square-foot store built by landlord Victoria Ward Ltd. across Kamakee Street that Computer City was to occupy.

A spokesperson at CompUSA Inc. today confirmed the store was closed but had no information on the status of a ten-year lease it now owns on the Kamakee Street property.

CompUSA last week announced it had completed a $211 million buyout of Tandy Corp.'s Computer City, a prime competitor with about 100 stores across the country.

Computer City had two stores on Oahu, at Victoria Ward property near Kakaako and at Wai-kele. The Waikele store remains open for business, now operating as CompUSA.

The recent acquisition came as a surprise to landlord Victoria Ward, which built the new store for Computer City as a key component of development plans in the area. Officials at Victoria Ward would only say they plan to hold the new owner, CompUSA, to its lease.

Retail analysts say another CompUSA store so near the existing store on South Street would be overkill.

The acquisition makes CompUSA the biggest retailer of home computers in the country. Computer City last year had revenue of about $1.9 billion while CompUSA reported revenue of $4.6 billion.