Maui mall gets Wi-Fi
The Queen Kaahumanu Center on Maui said Monday it has begun offering free wireless internet (Wi-Fi) access to shoppers. Any wireless-enabled laptop or mobile device can access the internet via the “Queen K WiFi” network.
Queen Kaahumanu Center has more than 100 shops and restaurants and is managed by Jones Lang LaSalle Retail.
Japanese investor buys more isle property
Katsuhiro Kinoshita, an investor who was once on the Forbes list of billionaires, has expanded his real estate holdings in Hawaii.
Kinoshita is listed as chairman of a company that recently bought the Bank of Hawaii Waikiki Center office building for $37.8 million, according to property records.
A partnership managed by Pacific Office Properties Trust sold the building in February.
Kinoshita bought the 51-room boutique Waikiki hotel Lotus at Diamond Head in 2011 for $18.5 million.
The investor from Japan was among the world’s richest people on Forbes’ list in 2006 with a net worth of $1.1 billion.
Bankoh opens branch in Kapahulu Safeway
Bank of Hawaii, which has more in-store branches than any bank in the state, will open another one May 4 inside the Kapahulu Safeway store.
It will be the bank’s 15th in-store branch and 11th inside a Safeway. With the Kapahulu location, Bankoh will have 66 branches in Hawaii.
The branch will replace the First Hawaiian Bank in-store branch that previously occupied the space. That branch closed Jan. 31 and was First Hawaiian’s only in-store branch. First Hawaiian, which said it decided not to renew its lease, has a full-service branch about a quarter-mile away at 433 Kapahulu Ave., across the street from the Waikiki-Kapahulu Public Library.
$100,000 aids Kapiolani marrow program
UHA, also known as University Health Alliance, is donating $100,000 to the Kapiolani Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Program for a new stem cell collection machine and staffing and training for the state’s only pediatric bone marrow transplant facility.
Kapiolani began bone marrow and stem cell collection services last year after the closure of the Hawaii Medical Center.
The new machine will allow patients and their families to stay here for stem cell donation procedures rather than traveling to the mainland, and paves the way for the hospital to become a stem cell collection center for the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry, the company said in a press release.
Hawaii chef nominated in Food & Wine poll
Lynette Pflueger of Honolulu’s Chef Mavro restaurant is among 50 nominees for People’s Best New Pastry Chef, by Food & Wine magazine.
An alumna of the Art Institute of California, Santé restaurant in Spokane, Wash., Fontainebleau Miami Beach and La Goulue in Bal Harbour, Fla., Pflueger is among 16 pastry chefs nominated in the west region and is the only Honolulu pastry chef in the running, for which online voting is now open.
The second annual online poll by Food & Wine seeks to award innovators who have run a restaurant pastry kitchen for five or fewer years. Voting closes at 5 p.m. Eastern time (11 a.m. Hawaii time) Monday, and the winner will be announced April 9. The winner will be featured in the July issue of the magazine, available on newsstands June 14.
Safeway, Chevron start rewards program
Safeway Inc. and Chevron said Monday they have started a joint rewards program in Hawaii where Safeway customers can earn discounts on gasoline purchases at Chevron by buying groceries with their Safeway Club Card.
For every $1 spent on qualifying grocery purchases, customers receive one point. When you have collected 100 points on the Safeway card, you can get a discount of 10 cents per gallon at Chevron on a single fill-up of 25 gallons or less. The maximum discount is 20 cents per gallon.
Customers redeem their rewards by swiping their Safeway card or entering their phone number at the pump before fueling up. The program is available at 20 Safeway stores in Hawaii and more than 55 Chevron stations.
ON THE MOVE
Geminiano "Toy" Arre has been appointed to AARP Hawaii’s Executive Council. Arre retired in 2012 as president and chief executive officer of the Filipino Community Center. His experience also includes serving as financial adviser to Manila Mayor Jose L. Atienza from 1999 to 2004 and director of finance for former Mayor Frank Fasi.
Renee Awana has been appointed to Hawaiian Airlines’ new position of director of cabin experience. She has 21 years’ experience in brand strategy, marketing, public relations, business development and advertising in Hawaii and Utah. Awana was vice president and head of marketing for Mobi PCS in Hawaii, and managed marketing efforts for companies in the environmental, wireless telecom and fitness industries.
The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative board of directors has elected Allan A. Smith as chairman of the board. He has served as interim director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, senior vice president of Grove Farm and manager for Lihue Plantation and Kekaha Sugar Plantation.
