Bed Bath & Beyond marks its first foray into the Hawaii market with the opening at 9 a.m. today of its store at Pearlridge Center.

The New Jersey-based, publicly traded retailer joins the ranks of other national chains that have looked to profit in recent years from the Hawaii market and consumers’ thirst for more choices.

"From the consumer’s standpoint there’s always a thirst for more," said Carol Pregill, president of Retail Merchants of Hawaii. "That’s the nature of the consumer."

The 65,000-square-foot home furnishings store took the space formerly occupied by Circuit City.

The company is still in the process of hiring up to 100 workers and is already looking at opportunities to expand its presence in the islands, according to regional director Steve Broutt.

"Right now we’re obviously focused on this store, but we’re absolutely exploring additional opportunities here and on other islands," he said.

The big-box giant’s entree into Hawaii comes as customers’ buying strategies have shifted to finding bargains and value.

"You look for value, especially when money is tight," said Mike Hamasu, director of consulting and research at Colliers Monroe Friedlander Inc. "So those retailers that provide discounted or value-added shopping opportunities are really where you see the growth in this marketplace."

While a number of hardware stores have built a presence in Hawaii in recent years, home furnishings is one area yet to be saturated in the local market.

"That’s one area everybody seems to agree we don’t have enough choices," Pregill said. "The mantra for retail is the more exciting the marketplace for the consumer, the better the health of the industry."

Each Bed Bath & Beyond store is "specifically tailored to its neighborhood by a local management team with the autonomy to make ongoing merchandise decisions," the company said in a press release.

The Oahu store sells merchandise including framed art, food, decorative pillows and personal products from more than 35 local vendors. It also stocks more than 20,000 discounted health, beauty and cosmetics products.

Merchandise includes bed linens, bath accessories, window treatments, kitchen linens, as well as cookware, dinnerware, glassware and closet and storage items.

The first two floors of the three-story building compose the retail space, while the third will be used for storage.

Bed Bath & Beyond, founded in 1971, operates in the United States and Canada and has affiliated chains including Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon, Harmon Face Values and Buybuy Baby in the U.S. It also does business under the name Home & More in Mexico, under a joint venture. It has about 1,000 stores. Its superstores generally range from 23,000 to 50,000 square feet with several stores exceeding 80,000 square feet.

While retailers are still struggling to recover from lower sales as a result of the economic downturn of recent years, big-box and discounters including Costco Wholesale Corp., Target Corp. and PETCO Animal Supplies Inc. are still looking for space to expand in the islands, according to local real estate brokers.

Pearlridge Center, Hawaii’s second-largest shopping mall, is being sold to a partnership of two mainland real estate powerhouses in a deal valued at nearly $250 million, people familiar with the transaction said earlier this week.