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Eddie Bauer
opens first store
in Hawaii
Catalogs give way to
By Peter Wagner
foot traffic as customers crowd
into the Ala Moana store
Star-BulletinTHOSE shirts, shorts, backpacks and sandals you've seen in the catalog are now hanging in a new Eddie Bauer store at Ala Moana Center.
The Seattle-based company this week opened its first store in Hawaii, a response to customer requests and a strong showing in online and catalog sales here.
"We saw a need and decided to fill it," said spokeswoman Cozette Phifer. "Also, Hawaii was the only state we were not in."
Bauer, a $1.7 billion company, operates 565 stores worldwide -- 472 of them in the United States and Canada.
It circulates 110 million catalogs also offered online at its Web site, eddiebauer.com."A lot of our regular customers who travel to Hawaii also asked why we didn't have a store there," said Phifer.
Customers yesterday crowded the store, poring over the outdoorsy goods -- sturdy watches, denims, sport shirts, T-shirts, footwear, flashlights, wheeled backpacks and, for those foggy nights, "Fog Off" window sponges.
The company, which made thousands of flight jackets for the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, today targets upscale shoppers of both sexes, in their 30s and 40s.
The 6,348-square-foot store, on the mall's third floor, hopes to attract customers with goods at catalog prices, minus shipping charges.
Two in-store telephones offer direct access to the company's inventory, allowing customers to find what's not on the shelf without delivery costs.
"Going into the store has its advantages," said Phifer. "Our customer service is unsurpassed."
The company averages 50 employees per store, she said.
While the store has been open since Saturday, a grand opening ceremony is scheduled Friday and with festivities planned through the weekend.
