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Hilo Hattie
planning Waikiki
expansion
The retail chain is moving
By Brett Alexander Estes
its concept closer to
the customer
Star-BulletinHilo Hattie, the island fashion and merchandise retail chain, plans to open a 20,000-square-foot Waikiki store in 2001.
"We're moving our flagship store from Nimitz to Waikiki in order to bring our concept closer to the tourist market," said Chris Resich, president and chief operating officer of Pomare Ltd., Hilo Hattie's parent company.
"We're shooting for somewhere around the end of next summer," Resich said. "At this point we're expecting to employ about 60 people."Hilo Hattie has two stores on Oahu, one on Nimitz Highway and the other at Ala Moana Center.
"Nimitz and Ala Moana will continue to cater to the local market," Resich said.
The new store, which will sell Hilo Hattie's assortment of Hawaiian fashions, gifts and food items, will sit on the site of the former Hula Hut nightclub at 286 Beach Walk.It will be the only vendor on the site and will be second in size to Hilo Hattie's 23,000-square-foot Nimitz showroom, the company's largest outlet.
"The building is going to have to be redeveloped. It's a multimillion dollar project for us," said Resich, adding that redevelopment will be done by the building's lessor, Romig Properties Corp., headed by Pomare Ltd. CEO James Romig.
Hilo Hattie has six Hawaii outlets and opened its first mainland store in Anaheim, Calif., in 1998. The company has since opened a store in Guam and another in Nashville, Tenn. A new outlet in Kihei, Maui, and another in Phoenix are planned for later this year.
