Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza is still churning out fun, parties and pizzas in Aina Haina Shopping Center - it has not closed.

“;People call every day and say, 'Oh! You guys are open? I thought you were closed,'”; said Wayne Hayami, Hawaii franchisee.

The store will not close until Hayami is ready to open a replacement location at the former Grocery Outlet in City Square on Dillingham Blvd.

“;I'm just about starting the building permit process and I'm looking at hopefully opening by July 1,”; he said.

Hayami was initially told he was not part of the owner's plans for the redevelopment of the Aina Haina center, so he went shopping for a new location.

“;Aina Haina came back to me after all the public comment (decrying proposed changes), but it was too late, I already made a deal,”; for his long-term lease at City Square.

He's sad about leaving Aina Haina, which has been “;a great location for us for over 20 years,”; he said. “;Everybody knows us, we're talking parents and their children, their children's children - generations.”;

It may be little-known that kids are not the only ones who have parties at Chuck E. Cheese's. Birthday boys and girls can be “;70- and 80-year-olds and they really enjoy it,”; Hayami said.

He looks forward to the benefit of being in town, noting that Costco's sales went up when it moved from Salt Lake to Iwilei. “;I think the population base is bigger there,”; which could mean a better bottom line for his game parlor-pizza-party place.

The Pearl City Chuck E. Cheese's will soon get a makeover, beginning with about a four-day shut-down for electrical work at the end of the month.

It will reopen and operate while remodeling progresses at night, Hayami said.

When the work is done next month there will be a blessing and reopening ceremony. “;It's going to be a terrific brand new store, with new games,”; new furnishings and carpet for a total of $150,000 in renovation work.

That, as he prepares to build the new Kalihi store and plans a Kapolei location, perhaps in 2011.

“;In this economy, people are calling me crazy, but you've got to be ready for when it gets better,”; Hayami said.

Full-time employees may migrate from the Aina Haina store to the new Kalihi location when it opens, but Hayami figures most of his part-timers, many from East Honolulu, will not want to commute. He may hire around 70 people for the new store, perhaps beginning in June.

He was preparing to open a Kapolei location next year, but development of the center he was to go into was canceled, leaving him looking for a new spot.