Shops squeezed as Sears closes

Eighty-five-year old Rose Ching catches the bus 12 miles a day from Kaneohe to work at Dave’s Ice Cream/Espresso & Creme, which will be closing this month in Sears at Ala Moana Center.

The more than 25-year employee and mother-in-law of the shop’s owner says she’ll miss the job and especially the longtime patrons who come every week to relax and "talk story."

"I’m not going to work anymore. I’m going to miss it," said Ching, a retired Woolworth’s sales cashier who still works six days a week. "We are sad because we had lots of customers. I made lots of friends. People are very nice. They all ask where we are going to open again. Everybody’s looking for places."

But the mom-and-pop ice cream parlor, which has eight employees, has not yet found a new site.

The collateral damage left when Sears closes June 2 will displace more than a dozen small independent tenants, many of which have been a part of the venerable retail establishment for generations. An additional half-dozen, including Zippy’s, Ba-Le, GBC Boxes & Packaging, and JR’s Caps & Embroidery, already have closed since Sears announced in February that the mall owner had decided to move up the closing date by more than six months.

The retailer — one of the original anchor tenants when Ala Moana opened in 1959 — originally planned to close in early 2014. It has since had close-out sales of as much as 75 percent off and begun emptying the three-level department store.

Mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. is demolishing the 340,000-square-foot anchor store to start an extensive expansion of the state’s largest shopping complex. Sears is laying off 327 workers when it shutters its flagship Ala Moana location.

"It’s a very sad thing because of the timing. Everybody’s had like three months to try to find a home, and it’s been very stressful," said Ron Bon­gio­vanni, owner of Sears concession Celebrity Tuxedos. "Thank God we found a location in time because it’s very difficult to find. We’re a small, family-operated business. It’s not like we’re big boxes that can go into major complexes."

Ellen Ordiniza, 65, has worked at the independent Watch & Jewelry Repair counter on the second floor of Sears for four years. She and her three co-workers will still have jobs when Sears closes since the business plans to move into Macy’s.

Still, closing the business after a quarter-century is bittersweet.

"The saddest thing is it finally dawned on us that it’s closing. It really didn’t hit me until I came to work and it was all empty here. It was all just mouth until you see the (emptiness)," she said. "I really wish Sears was still in business here. The only upside is we all have jobs. Unfortunately, the other concessions don’t. This is not a time to be without a job. It’s an absolute must. You have to in order to survive."

While the Sears Flower Shop, which opened in 1969, is in discussions to relocate to Sears at Pearlridge Center, owner Mila Hudson is heartbroken about leaving the loyal customers who have bought flowers weekly year after year.

Hudson, who has worked at the shop for a decade, said many of her regular customers are older people who live around the area and will not likely be able to make it to a new location more than 10 miles away.

"It’s too far for them. Most of our customers are senior citizens or tourists from Waikiki. Mostly they take the bus or Handi-Van," she said. "The sad part is we’ve been here a long time, so you develop friendships with customers. They’re like family. I have one that on every occasion gives me a card. I love them. I’m going to miss them, too."

Although Celebrity Tuxedos already has found a new storefront at 1400 Kapiolani Blvd., the concession that’s closing May 29 after more than 30 years in the Ala Moana Sears will have a different feel, said manager Bruce Shi­mizu Jr.

"Sears is very nostalgic. Historically, they’ve been the most loyal store in Hawaii," he said. "It’s not going to feel the same at all. You just can’t move somewhere and feel like you’re at home. You’ve got to start all over again. This is like a landmark."

Redevelopment of the Sears store will double the retail space at the Ewa end of the mall, adding Hawaii’s first Bloomingdale’s to the roster of tenants, as well as midsize and smaller retailers. Ala Moana also is reconfiguring Centerstage and upgrading the surrounding street-level shops. General Growth is investing $572.4 million in the expansion, expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015.