Shogun Restaurant to close Nov. 30
Workers at the Shogun Restaurant were told yesterday that the Pacific Beach Hotel eatery will close on Nov. 30, the day before HTH takes back management of the hotel.
The 837-room hotel is owned by HTH Corp. and employs about 535 workers, of whom about 450 are members of ILWU Local 142. While the hotel is currently managed by PBH Management, an affiliate of Outrigger Enterprises Group, HTH will resume management on Dec. 1.
About 55 hotel workers are employed at Shogun.
"In the last several years it has not generated the customer numbers that it had in the past," said Robert "Mick" Minicola, HTH's regional vice president of operations. "We are looking at various exciting, new concepts for the space."
Shogun's holiday reservations or gift certificates will be honored at Neptune's Garden or Oceanarium restaurants, also located in the Pacific Beach Hotel.
The restaurant closure is just one of many pending changes at the Pacific Beach Hotel, which has still not made it clear to workers how many will be retained following the latest management transition.
HTH's refusal to give hotel workers an assurance that their jobs will be maintained "has created fear and apprehension for the employees," said Guy Fujimura, secretary/treasurer of ILWU Local 142.
HTH has said it can't commit to retaining all of its workers and will not be able to give a final count until it completes an evaluation of staffing needs in light of declining visitor counts in Waikiki.
"We are hopeful that many of the Shogun employees will find positions within the hotel," Minicola said.
While there may be vacancies in other departments of the hotel, Shogun workers also may find employment at the HTH-owned Pagoda Hotel on Oahu.