Gap Factory Store is coming to Waikele

The Gap Factory Store, which sells discounted Gap clothing and accessories, will open its first Hawaii location in the spring, at the site of the former Borders Books, Music, Movies & Cafe store at Waikele Center.

The apparel and accessories retailer will add "a new dimension and a new synergy" to the center, said Pamela Wilson, general manager of Hawaiian real estate for American Assets Trust, which owns Waikele Center.

"They probably want to be open as quickly as they can," she said.

The center already is home to Old Navy, a sister-retailer of The Gap, and Banana Republic, another sister-concept, is at Waikele Premium Outlets across Lumiaina Street.

Both centers "dovetail," she said, sharing quite a bit of retail traffic. Japanese visitors bused to Waikele Premium Outlet often make their way across Lumiaina Street and "are so delighted to see McDonald’s, Starbucks and Genki Sushi," Wilson added.

The 13,347-square-foot Borders space had been emptied out after the retailer closed earlier this year following Borders’ February bankruptcy filing and store closure announcements.

The space has only been vacant a few months, while another former Borders location, at Ward Centre, was empty an even shorter amount of time, as it now houses a temporary Toys R Us store on the first floor.

"Good real estate attracts good tenants," said Wendell Brooks III, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis Inc., which brokers Waikele Center, among other retail and commercial properties.

"The better-situated, well-located (former Borders) stores are being grabbed up and have been and are in various stages of (lease) execution," he said.

He is aware of activity involving the larger spaces formerly occupied by Borders, the players in which have not yet announced signed leases. All have a presence in the Hawaii market.

"Once a retailer commits to the market, they like to blanket, with multiple locations," Brooks said.

A smattering of The Gap Factory Stores exists on the mainland and in Canada. The Gap also has GapKids, BabyGap, GapMaternity, Gap Body and dozens of Gap Outlet Stores.

Parent company Gap Inc., founded in 1969 in San Francisco, also owns Athleta and online boutique Piperlime.

On Oahu The Gap has locations in Ala Moana Center and Pearlridge Center, which also houses BabyGap, GapKids and Gap Body lines, according to its website.