Nordstrom still seeks
isle site

Victoria Ward Ltd.'s sale
returned a deal to negotiations

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Nordstrom Inc. still hopes for a full-line department store in Honolulu, though it no longer has any concrete plans, according to a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based high-end apparel retailer.

The $250 million acquisition of Victoria Ward Ltd. by Ala Moana Center owner General Growth Properties in early June put an end to an agreement to build a 150,000-square-foot stand-alone store to complement the $40 million Ward Entertainment Center.

As part of the sale, Victoria Ward canceled the letter of intent signed by Ward and Nordstrom, said Nordstrom spokeswoman Deniz Anders.

"There are discussions, however, and we still hope to have a full-line store in Honolulu," she said.

General Growth Properties officials in Chicago declined to comment.

Nordstrom originally expressed interest in an Ala Moana Center location and signed a letter of intent in 1996 to build a new store structure at Ala Moana.

Liberty House, one of the original tenants, exercised a veto right, saying it could not allow a new structure as long as air conditioning, traffic and other concerns had not been met.

In August 2000, Nordstrom formally pulled out of that plan, which had called for a store of 268,000 square feet.

That month it opened a Nordstrom Rack off-price store in the Victoria Ward complex. Last month, the company also opened a large shoe store at Victoria Ward.

Dwight Yoshimura, Ala Moana Center general manager, would say only that any negotiations would be taking place in Chicago between top officials of General Growth and Nordstrom.

Nordstrom "always wanted to be in the center," he said.