Denny's Corp. is expanding its Hawaii stable of 24/7 restaurants to Windward City Shopping Center, where construction has begun in the space formerly occupied by Flamingo's.

It is scheduled to open some time in March, according to spokesman Robert Gonzalez.

March 15 is the target date, said Rick Holloway, company business leader for Denny's in Hawaii, effectively, the regional manager.

Regular readers of this space know that restaurant opening dates are often moving targets, for various reasons.

The Kaneohe Denny's will seat about 155 people and will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, per the “;company heritage,”; Holloway said.

Denny's will open in Kaneohe with about 100 employees and it has begun the hiring process at local job fairs. Applications can be obtained at any location and the company will accept applications in Kaneohe some time next month.

In addition to the soon-to-open Denny's, the four others on Oahu are in Kunia, Pearlridge Phase Two, and on Kuhio Avenue and Lewers Street in Waikiki.

All Oahu locations are owned by the So. Carolina-based company, while the Kailua-Kona, Kahului and Kihei restaurants are franchises.

That it is expanding in Hawaii during the state's unprecedented economic difficulties, reflects that “;Denny's is a very strong company,”; Holloway said.

There are about 1,500 company-owned and franchised stores in the U.S., Canada, Costa Rica, Guam, Mexico, New Zealand and Puerto Rico, according to the company Web site.

“;There are going to be some winners and there are going to be some losers, but Denny's has a 50-year heritage of family dining that makes us a winner.”;

“;Business on Oahu, at Denny's, is good,”; he added, because menu prices work for visitors and “;community customers,”; and “;our portions are huge.”;

Holloway and other Denny's employees are excited about something that will happen this weekend, during a certain football game.

“;We are going to run an ad during the Super Bowl”; for the first time, Holloway said.

Some of the company's TV commercials can be viewed on its Web site, but not the one titled “;Thugs,”; which is reportedly going to run during The Game.

A teaser for “;Thugs”; can be viewed at Chain Leader magazine's Web site.