City Mill to
open in Waianae

Star-Bulletin staff

City Mill will open a neighborhood hardware store in Waianae this fall, using 35,000 to 40,000 square feet of space in the Waianae Mall area formerly occupied by a Woolworth store.

The store will create 60 jobs and the company hopes to fill them from the Waianae area, said Steven Air, president of City Mill Co.

The store will be the eighth in the City Mill chain and represents expansion plans that will take the business to other parts of Oahu and possibly other islands and Guam, Ai said. Existing stores in the family-owned business, which employs about 400 in all, are on Nimitz Highway and in Kaneohe, Waipahu, Pearl City, Kaimuki, Hawaii Kai and Mililani.

City Mill is broadening its merchandise mix, adding about 10,000 items, and has already achieved that at the Nimitz and Kaneohe stores, Ai said. He said all stores will be carrying the new items by the end of the year.

People from Waianae and other communities in the area have asked the company over the years when they might get a City Mill in their area and the Waianae development is a response to that demand, Ai said.

Waianae resident Joseph Lapilio, who has been involved in community revitalization efforts, said he believes Waianae is growing and gaining economic strength.

Ai said City Mill also sees Waianae as an emerging community and one that is often overlooked by businesses because of its remoteness and relatively small population.