GREGG KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM A 100-foot undersea mural of life-size humpback whales and other marine animals on the ceiling of the entrance to the Pearl Harbor mall, which opened yesterday, greets shoppers. The Wyland mural is the largest ceiling painting in Hawaii.

Navy stores
eagerly welcomed

Pearl Harbor's new mall is a success
for military shoppers who benefit from savings

---

By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

Retired Army Reserve Master Sgt. George Panui loves to shop at the Navy's supermarket at Pearl Harbor because of its prices and location.

"I come here everyday," said Panui, 67. "I have been doing that for the last 10 years. I live out of the commissary."

He was among the several hundred shoppers that flocked to yesterday's ribbon-cutting ceremony and opening of "the mall at Pearl Harbor" which places the Navy's largest exchange, or retail store, and Hawaii's largest commissary, or supermarket, in one location.

Michael Cottrell, district manager of the Navy Exchange in Hawaii, said the 340,000-square-foot mall is a direct result of customer-focus groups and feedback and was constructed to meet the growing needs of Hawaii's military community. Only military members, their families and retirees can patronize these stores.

Panui said he stayed in uniform for 32 years, 30 of which was with the Army Reserve, because he knows prices are cheaper in the exchange and commissary.

"There is a big difference," he added, "in some cases as much as 20 percent."

The Navy says that commissary shoppers purchase items at cost plus a five percent surcharge which covers the cost of building new commissaries and modernization of existing stores.

For a family of four, the Navy estimates the savings are worth $2,400 a year.

At the 132,778-square-foot Navy Exchange the military says shoppers there save 17 percent compared to commercial prices. Seventy percent of the exchange's profits are spent on the Navy's Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs with the remaining 30 percent used for renovations and new projects.

Rear Adm. Robert Conway, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, said construction on the $54 million shopping complex began in January 2001.

He noted that one of the special features of the mall was a high ceiling rotunda which features the largest mural in the islands: a 100-foot painting by Wyland of life-size humpback whales and other marine life.

"It captures the real essence of Hawaii," Conway said, "and our ties to the sea."

Yesterday, shoppers like Nadine Bayne were immediately impressed with Wyland's mural and the waterfall in the atrium of the mall.

"It's one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen," Bayne said.

Navy Petty Officer Timothy Santiago said he liked the convenience of having the retail store and the supermarket in one location.

"This is great," he said as he and as his daughter Diandra, 4, walked through the supermarket. "Now everything is together. It makes it more convenient if you got kids. You can park your car in one place and then do all your shopping."

Besides clustering the supermarket and the retail store in one location, the mall also features a food court on the second floor as well as a pharmacy, barber and beauty shop, florist, and photo and optical stores.

The Navy said the 92,164-square-foot commissary features more than 2,000 locally produced items and employs 54 full-time and 83 part-time employees. Sales at the commissary reach nearly $4 million a month; while the exchange takes in nearly $100 million a year.

The contractor of the mall was C.F. Jordan, an El Paso, Texas-based company.