Pacific Business News
Workers at Nordstrom in Hawaii spent Wednesday packing up the company’s Hawaii flagship store at Ala Moana Center to move to the retailer’s new prime spot as anchor of the mall’s new $573 million Ewa wing. Nordstrom will open the new store to the public on Friday. The old store, which opened in 2008, was nearly empty on Wednesday as apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics and other merchandise and fixtures were packed up and moved around the block to the new store along Piikoi Street.
Seattle-based Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) has been showing off its new three-level store this week, first with a media tour on Monday, followed by an opening gala attended by more than 1,200 people Tuesday night, including members of the Nordstrom family, that raised more than $120,000 for Aloha United Way, Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii and Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii.
The new store, at 186,000 square feet, is smaller than the 211,000-square-foot space it departed on Kapiolani Boulevard in Honolulu, but store officials say it will stock more local products and have two additional departments, as well as two restaurants — the Habitant Lounge and Bar and the Ruscello Restaurant, as well as the gelato bar relocated from the old location, where there was just one cafe.