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Windward Mall will open
an IHOP; more Oahu
locations may be coming

YOU can almost smell the pancakes and melting butter. IHOP, formerly the International House of Pancakes, is coming to Windward Mall after nearly two years of negotiations, "almost to the date," said Jonathan Kim, the mall's general manager.

He has dined at the IHOP in Maui Mall "four or five times. I really enjoy it. They have tremendous meals and they gear them toward the local tastes, and we look forward to their coming here."

Maui IHOP owner Rennie West, mother of "American Idol" finalist Camile Velasco, first mentioned the possibility of expanding the franchise to Oahu in 2003 and now the deal is done.

Kim secured West's pledge to have Velasco on Oahu for the opening. A date has not yet been set. The restaurant will be built in about 5,400 square feet on the ground floor between Macy's and LaHens Designs Inc.

"It'll take about six months to build out the space" once construction begins, Kim said. The restaurant will also feature a 500- to 800-square-foot meeting room for private parties.

The mall opens its doors at 7 a.m. for senior citizen mall walkers, but most of its stores don't open until 10 a.m.

For early and late diners, the restaurant will open in the morning, close around midnight, and will have entrances from the interior of the mall as well as the exterior.

Oahu may get more IHOPs, too, as the California-based corporate headquarters sees "additional possibilities on Oahu ... in a growing population area," said Patrick Lenow, IHOP Corp. spokesman.

The mall also opened Caterpillar Kids, a specialty baby and toddler store, on March 4.

"It's a category we don't presently have, other than Macy's and Sears," Kim said. It is on the ground level outside Sears, in the former Hopaco space.

Owner-operator Shelly Tadena closed her 1,400-square-foot shop in Pearl City to relocate to the 3,490-square-foot space in the Kaneohe mall.

The store sells new and gent-ly used apparel and merchandise for babies, toddlers and new mothers.

Items such as Medela breast pumps are sold brand new, but "we do about 65 percent resale items," Tadena said.

Clothing is sold in sizes from preemie to 4T and with the new larger space, "we're getting pretty high demand, being in the Kaneohe area ... just with the greater traffic we see here, we notice that we need to focus more on inventory."

Caterpillar Kids will pay cash or store credit for clothing and accessories in salable condition.

"If you choose in-store credit, we'll pay 15 percent more," which can be placed on a rechargeable card, Tadena said.

The store pays 25 percent to 50 percent of each item's resale value in transactions arranged by appointment only. Appointments take 30 to 45 minutes, Tadena said.

Items must be presented washed and will be washed again by the store, using baby-safe cleaning products.

"We're very particular about what we bring in -- the age, the quality -- it has to go through a bunch of inspections," she said.

The store also will forward donations to the Salvation Army and other nonprofit organizations and provide a receipt for tax deductions.