Kahala Mall tenants to close doors

The mall will end the leases of four tenants next to Whole Foods

Three tenants, possibly four, near the planned Whole Foods Market at Kahala Mall will be closing their doors by the end of the year.

Ginza Kimuraya Tokyo Bakery & Café, which has been at the mall three years, will close on Aug. 20. Chinese restaurant Yen King was given notice to vacate its space by the end of October, while the I Love Country Café Express is expected to close by the end of the year.

Owners of the Patisserie, Whole Foods' immediate neighbor, have yet to make up their minds as to what to do, according to mall manager Ron Yoda.

All four tenants had been on month-to-month leases since the beginning of the year, he said, with the mall's management, MMI Realty Services Inc., which wanted to keep its options open

Yoda said the mall has been in negotiations with potential tenants for the space, which combined measure just more than 7,000 square feet.

MMI Realty is looking for tenants that will complement Whole Foods, with the goal of reconfiguring the space and opening it all by the spring of 2008.

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Some longtime tenants next to the planned Whole Foods Market at Kahala Mall will end their leases to make way for new tenants by the end of the year.

Mall manager Ron Yoda of MMI Realty Services Inc. said the four tenants on the small strip next door to Whole Foods -- The Patisserie, I Love Country Café Express, Ginza Kimuraya Tokyo Bakery & Café and Yen King -- have all been on month-to-month leases since the beginning of the year.

Yen King, a Chinese restaurant at the mall for more than 20 years, was given notice to vacate the space by the end of October. I Love Country will close by the end of this year.

Ginza, meanwhile opted to close on Aug. 20 after three years in business due to the instability of the month-to-month lease. The future of The Patisserie is still up in the air.

The initiative to renovate the four spaces, which measure a little over 7,000 square feet total, was taken by mall management, he said, not upon the direction of Whole Foods.

"With Whole Foods coming, it was an opportunity to make some changes in that area," Yoda said.

While no leases have been finalized yet, he said the mall has been in discussions with prospective tenants. The mall seeks future food and restaurant tenants that would be compatible with Whole Foods.

He said it was important to renovate and reconfigure the area, given that it's one of the main mall entrances and hasn't been refreshed for some 50 years.

The four spaces measure anywhere between 800 to 2,600 square feet apiece.

Rents at the mall will remain the same -- there is a base rent plus 6 to 12 percent of sales -- but lease terms vary according to the type of tenants using the space.

"There's no deadline," Yoda said. "But we do want them to open at around the same time as Whole Foods."

Texas-based Whole Foods Market, one of the largest natural foods chains in the nation, plans to open its store at the former site of Star Market next spring, measuring 26,000 square feet.

Last week, it also announced plans to open stores in Kailua and at Maui Mall in Kahului over the next three years.

Unfortunately, the existing tenants can't move elsewhere within Kahala Mall because it is fully occupied, according to Yoda.

Following a flood in the spring of last year, the mall has moved several tenants around while bringing in new tenants. Nine West recently opened at the mall this summer, while Banana Republic is planning a move to another space within the mall.