Costco Opening, Shopping Centers Mark Growth in Second City of Kapolei

KAPOLEI, Hawaii - The growing community of Kapolei experienced some exciting events recently. Oahu's second city, located on the leeward side of the island, is really taking its shape as the state's next metropolis. The city has undergone some massive changes in the last few years. The greatest among them happened in just the past three weeks.

The first of these occurred on Friday, February 27, 2009, with the grand opening of Oahu's largest Costco Wholesale location. Residents from near and far attended the celebration of the 160,000 square feet warehouse, easily and quickly filling up the 715-stall parking lot and occupying all 1000 shopping carts available.

Costco Kapolei is a great addition to the Kapolei community because prior to this, residents were forced to drive to one of the three other locations, which are in Mililani, Iwilei, and Hawaii Kai. One unique feature of the new Costco is its indoor food court which is available to members only. At the other locations, the food court is outside where members and non-members alike are able to enjoy the $1.50 hot dogs or polish dogs that also include a drink. A big plus for residents of the west side is the availability of Costco's inexpensive gas. Where the average for unleaded fuel on the island is $2.39, Costco's price for members is about $2.27. This gives people more of an incentive to sign up for a Costco membership.

Diagonally across from Costco lies the new open air shopping complex called Kapolei Commons. Residents from all over waited with anticipation for the opening of one of the country's most popular stores. On March 4, 2009, Target made history and opened the doors of its only two locations on Hawaii, at Kapolei Commons and the other in Salt Lake across the Aloha Stadium. Although it was supposed to be a "soft" opening, more than 1800 eager customers walked through the Kapolei Target as soon as it opened.

Target shares the Kapolei Commons property with three other neighboring stores: Sports Authority (which opened on February 27), Office Max (opened March 5), and Oahu's first Petco (opened March 2). On the weekend of March 7 and 8, the entire complex held its grand opening for all the stores with each offering customer discounts and giveaways. Security and police officers were on hand to direct and control the endless stream of cars. Although a power outage did occur for several hours due to the heavy rain, that didn't stop relentless shoppers from enjoying the weekend's festivities.

But these grand openings do not mark the end for the city of Kapolei. Additions to the Commons are slated for the future with Ross Dress for Less opening next to Petco in the fall of this year and Regal 15-screen multiplex theater expected to open in fall 2010. Other smaller tenants will include Aloha Salads, Kua Aina Sandwich, Let's Party, and Salon Bobbi and Guy to name a few.

After years of wondrous anticipation, leeward residents can finally enjoy great food, shopping, and entertainment just five minutes from home. The big boom has also created thousands of new jobs and is expected to provide even more in the next couple years.

Sources:

Kapolei Commons, "Project Facts",http://www.thekapoleicommons.com/

Advertiser Staff, "Crowds thrill Kapolei merchants", The Honolulu Advertiser,http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090309/NEWS01/903090320/1001

Voice of Kapolei Staff, "Kapolei Commons Mall - e Komo Mai! (Mar 09), The Voice of Kapolei, http://thevoiceofkapolei.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=493&Itemid=133&ed=19

Advertiser Staff, "Kapolei welcomes Costco", The Honolulu Advertiser, http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090228/NEWS01/902280322/0/NEWS01