RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Cars filled the parking structures of Ala Moana Center yesterday during the Christmas shopping rush.
Shoppers cram stores
as Christmas approachesLines in shops at Ala Moana
grow long on the last weekend
before the holiday
'Twas five shopping days before Christmas and all through Ala Moana Center yesterday, the lines were forming.
The Disney Store was using cordons like a movie theater or airline ticket counter to keep order among the several-dozen customers in its check-out line.
In Shirokiya, the queue of prospective buyers snaked through aisles of TVs and VCRs as busy clerks worked the cash registers on the last shopping weekend before Dec. 25.
In the Williams Sonoma store, those who needed help finding the right kitchen gadget also had to wait their turn.
"I can tell there are more people, because the background drone of noise is up" compared to a regular shopping day, said Harold Machigashira, who works at an information booth at the shopping center.
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Looking Ewa toward Sears, the sidewalks of Ala Moana Center were a veritable sea of humanity on this last weekend before Christmas.
There were some islands of quiet in the overall bustle.
Gary Dworshak sat with his 5-year-old son Nicholas, watching koi in one of the center's ponds after a morning breakfast with Santa and ride on the electric train.
At Sears, two salesmen in the appliance department had enough time on their hands to lean on washing machines -- apparently not an item on anyone's Christmas list -- and watch nearby electronics clerks rack up steady sales.
Alvin Lee took a break from his job at Vacations Hawaii by sipping on a frozen coffee drink and testing out the electric foot massagers at Footlex in Shirokiya.
"Everybody's happy and everyone looks more friendly," California Pizza Kitchen cook Jonathan Viernes of Ewa Beach said as he looked over the scene before starting his shift yesterday.
Bridgette Brown and Sarah Kalilikane, of the Natural Nails booth, said they're not yet tired of waving to children as they go by every 20 minutes on the electric train ride.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Herbert Naeole, left, and his sons, Akula and Nakia, took a breather while waiting for his wife, Kim, and daughter, Kanani, to finish shopping at the mall.
For the Taufaasau family of Pearl City, the $5 train ride is an annual tradition.
Eleven-year-old James, who sports red, blue and green braces for the Christmas season, has been on the train three years in a row. Little brother Jensen, 3, rode for the first time yesterday.
Bits of Christmas spirit abounded.
Kaori Westergreen wore a bright red Santa hat as she shopped in Gap Kids with her husband, Michael.
At Armani Exchange, buyers were going for glittery, shiny clothes, presumably to wear to holiday parties, said clerk Melinda Chao.
It's a bittersweet time for Jason Martens, 19, a Schofield Barracks Army private who deploys to Iraq next month for a year, leaving behind his wife, Lindsay, and son, Cole, 2 months.
"It's stressful. A lot of things are going through my mind," Martens said, gazing at his first child in his stroller. "I'm excited to go -- it's our job. But it sucks that we've got to leave our families.
"My biggest wish is to give them the best Christmas I can."
