Reyn Spooner outlet store expanded and re-imagined

Reyn’s Rack, the discount outlet for Reyn Spooner clothing, is rejiggering its 20-year-old retail space downtown.

“We saw an opportunity here for the long term,” said Reyn Spooner President Kirk Hubbard of the downtown digs.

The temporarily closed, 700-square-foot Reyn’s Rack on Merchant Street will reopen as a 1,100-square-foot Reyn Spooner store, along the same lines as the Ala Moana Center and Kahala Mall stores.

It is expanding into the former Catherine’s Closet space next door and still will have a “Rack” section, offering discounted Reyn’s wear.

The owners are targeting late September for the opening, with a grand opening event Oct. 2 during First Friday festivities.

The company also will relocate its headquarters to the nearby Judd Building, at the corner of Merchant Street and Fort Street Mall, Hubbard said.

“We’ll be completely vacating” the company’s current location in Iwilei and moving offices downtown and warehouse operations to Kakaako, he said.

Hubbard noted “all the changes happening downtown … in the ‘metropolis’ of Honolulu,” the historic nature of the building and the “cool factor” of the theater, fashion and art scenes in the area as being among the reasons for the upgrade.

In addition to re-envisioning the store from discount to full-price retail, the company will be “expanding our collection, with a lot of different things, not just for men,” Hubbard said.

Marketing Director Lei Rowan added, “This fall we’ll be introducing a women’s accessories (line).”

The store will bear the same look as its larger mall siblings, Rowan said, from the mannequins, flooring and furnishings, “and we’ll be having more accessories in there, modern and classic,” she added.

The company’s “Think Pink” line includes shirts; scarves and sarongs will be added, she said. A portion of sale proceeds from the line will benefit Kapiolani Medical Center.

To maintain the nostalgia of the location, the vintage and familiar Reyn’s Rack sign will be incorporated into the new store’s interior. “It’s been there forever,” Rowan said.

The company, offering “Hawaiian traditionals since 1956,” as its slogan goes, will continue to host in-store special events.

On the Net:

>> reynspooner.com

Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.