Foodland says aloha to Ala Moana after 55 years

Foodland Super Market Ltd., one of Ala Moana Center’s original tenants, will close its store at the mall on Dec. 13 after 55 years.

Citing higher rents, officials at Hawaii’s oldest grocery retailer said they decided not to renew a lease at Ala Moana, the state’s largest shopping center.

The company said it will offer all 66 store employees positions at other Foodland locations on Oahu.

"Our company has operated a store at Ala Moana since statehood so the decision to leave the center after all these years was not an easy one, especially because of the impact the closing will have on our loyal employees and customers," Jenai Wall, Foodland chairwoman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Yet, while it truly saddens us to say ‘goodbye’ to Ala Moana, the challenges and costs of operating a store in this location today made it impossible for us to justify staying."

Foodland opened the Ala Moana store in August 1959, the same month Hawaii became a state. Its first store opened at Market City Shopping Center in May 1948.

Francis Cofran, the general manager of Ala Moana Center, said in a statement, "Ala Moana Center has enjoyed its long relationship with Foodland. As one of the original tenants that opened in 1959 with Ala Moana Center, Foodland will always remain a special part of the center’s history. We appreciate the 55 years of partnership we have shared with Foodland and its employees and wish the company continued success serving Hawaii."

The center is undergoing a $572 million redevelopment at the Ewa end of the mall and recently upgraded its Centerstage and surrounding retail and common areas on the ground level.

"We are proud to have been one of the original tenants of Ala Moana Shopping Center and are grateful to the center for working with us over the years so that we could continue to serve our customers even after our original location became the food court in the mid 1980s," Wall added. "As a local, family-owned business, we are especially grateful to our Foodland Ala Moana customers who have faithfully supported us over the years. They are like family to us and we will truly miss serving them at this store."

Foodland has 32 stores (not including Ala Moana) and employs approximately 2,500 people at its Foodland, Sack N Save and Foodland Farms stores on four islands. In June, the company opened a store in Wailuku on Maui.