Tiffany & Co. will move to new location on Kalakaua

Tiffany & Co. will become the latest jewel to adorn Royal Hawaiian Center’s Kalakaua frontage.

Royal Hawaiian Center announced today that the longtime Luxury Row retailer will be leaving its 2100 Kalakaua Ave. address to establish an 11,266-square-foot, three-story location on the center’s prime Kalakaua Avenue side. Center officials said Tiffany’s exact location and opening date will be revealed later.

“This is a validation of the power of Royal Hawaiian Center,” said Rosalind Schurgin, CEO of The Festival Cos., the management and leasing company for Royal Hawaiian Center, which is owned by RHC Property Holdings LLC. “Kalakaua Avenue is one of the most successful retail destinations in the world, along with Fifth Avenue, Rodeo Drive, Michigan Avenue, Avenue Montaigne in Paris and the Ginza in Tokyo.”

Waikiki-based real estate consultant Stephany Sofos said the move is a coup for Royal Hawaiian Center and speaks to the enduring power of what she calls Waikiki’s “Golden Corridor,” a prime stretch of retail that runs along Kalakaua Avenue from Uluniu Avenue to Lewers Street.

“There’s more competition now than when they went with other luxury retailers to Luxury Row on the outskirts of Waikiki. Cartier and Rolex have storefronts here, too. With more competition, it makes sense to be in the top spot, and the heart of Kalakaua Avenue is it,” Sofos said.

But Sofos said another luxury retailer is likely to jump at the chance to take Tiffany’s former spot, which will draw critical mass from the 111,000-square-foot Row’s remaining tenants, including Coach, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Tod’s and Hugo Boss.

“It won’t sit empty too long — not with those neighbors,” she said. “Also, plenty of retailers are clamoring to get into Waikiki.”