New Apple store opening at Royal Hawaiian Center
POSTED: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Apple Store at Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki, still under wraps behind a black wall, is expected to open its doors at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Apple Store Locations
The Apple Store now has three locations on Oahu. Opening dates of each store:
» Ala Moana Center (mall level): May 2003
» Kahala Mall: Feb. 2007
» Royal Hawaiian Center: Sept. 2008
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It will be Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc.'s third store on Oahu, in addition to stores at Ala Moana Center and Kahala Mall.
Construction workers were putting the final touches on the store yesterday afternoon from behind a temporary wall.
The two-story Apple Store in Waikiki will be in Building C at the center, next door to LeSportSac and just a few doors away from the Cheesecake Factory.
Job postings for the new store went up as early as January of this year for positions ranging from Mac specialists to Mac geniuses, cashiers, concierges and inventory specialists.
The Apple concierge, dressed in orange, welcomes customers and helps them check in for an appointment or instant checkout with handheld machines.
Apple is still hiring for some of the positions, not only for the Waikiki store, but for its other two stores as well at jobs.apple.com.
The Royal Hawaiian Center, which is completing its $115 million renovation, meanwhile, is still ushering in new tenants. Recent new stores include Wally Amos' newest Chip & Cookie store, which opened on the second level Saturday near the slated new Apple store.
Marciano, a new high-end boutique featuring contemporary, runway-inspired collections spun off from Guess Inc., is also under construction. Hilo Hattie, meanwhile, has delayed its move into the Royal Hawaiian Center.
Apple opened its first Oahu store at Ala Moana Center in May 2003, followed by a second store at Kahala Mall in February 2007. The Waikiki store will be its third on Oahu.
As with previous store openings, Apple will give away free Apple T-shirts to the first 1,000 people to visit the new Waikiki store.
Apple sent out an e-mail to its customers in Hawaii yesterday, telling them that the new store will be the place to test-drive any Mac, including the new MacBook Air, the fourth generation iPod nano and iPhone 3G. The Waikiki store will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
