StarBulletin.com

Price Busters Kailua open for business


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POSTED: Wednesday, August 26, 2009

More than a year after closing its doors, Price Busters Kailua is open for business again—in a new spot just across the street.

Price Busters signed a one-year lease for the former showroom space at Hardware Hawaii, and hopes to stay longer, said Beth Tom, company president.

The 7,000-square-foot store at 105 Oneawa St. held a quiet opening on Thursday.

Price Busters closed in June 2008 when its lease ended at a spot now occupied by Walgreens, near the intersection of Oneawa and Uluniu streets.

“;We're totally ecstatic with the response,”; said Tom, who had been searching for a new space in Kailua for a while. “;We've had a really nice response to the opening from the community.”;

Customers learned that Price Busters was open again mostly through word of mouth, and there has been a line outside before opening time.

Price Busters has two more locations slated for openings in October—a Price Busters at Kapolei Commons and a Let's Party Hawaii concept store at Windward Mall.

The Price Busters in Kailua is the company's seventh store. The others are at Koko Marina Center in Hawaii Kai, Pearl Highlands in Pearl City, Pearlridge Center in Aiea, the Town Center of Mililani, Fort Street Mall downtown and on Dillingham Boulevard in Kalihi.

Besides carrying the usual selection of items for cost-conscious consumers, Price Busters is expanding its offerings to include more foods, including chips, canned goods, pasta and saimin. Also, Price Busters now offers mylar balloons.

The Let's Party store will feature party items but also will carry about a third of the goods in a typical Price Busters store.

Price Busters, locally owned and operated since 1992, hired about 35 new employees for the Kailua store and plans to hire about 40 more for the two stores opening in October.