Bloomingdale’s ready to dazzle at Ala Moana

Executives of Hawaii’s first Bloomingdale’s are prepared to aggressively compete in the market with sales expected to rival their  flagship store in Manhattan.

“We’ve come to win,” Tony Spring, Bloomingdale’s chairman and chief executive officer, told a group of reporters touring the store Tuesday, two days prior to its opening at Ala Moana Center. “Obviously our flagship store in Manhattan is our biggest store in physical size and obviously very important in our business. Certainly our hope and expectation is that we have one of our best stores here in Ala Moana. We came prepared to be very successful and to build an important store within our chain. Given that it’s the only store in Hawaii, we certainly expect it to be a top-performing store.”

The three-level, 165,000-­­ square-foot store, designed to replicate its New York location with touches of Hawaii — koi fish and hula girl sculptures, oversized lei decorations and palm tree glass etchings — has an extensive line of brands, including Bloomingdale’s first Burberry Beauty bar, Vince handbag shop, and Korean skin care boutique with its own aesthetician and private treatment rooms. The store will offer homegrown products from Honolulu Cookie Co., Sea Salts of Hawaii, Big Island Bees and Honolulu Coffee Co., and has a designated buyer whose sole responsibility is to scout around for local merchandise.

Executives are hoping to differentiate the department store from its sister company, Macy’s, at the other end of the state’s largest shopping center when Bloomingdale’s opens Thursday as the anchor of Ala Moana’s new $570 million Ewa wing. New York-based Macy’s Inc. operates more than 800 stores, including 37 Bloomingdale’s.

“There’s a dramatically different assortment in this store,” Spring said. “My hope would be that it will steal (sales) from the other department stores in the mall, not our sister company. There’s a handful of brands that overlap, but there’s a very different mix in the store.”

Bloomingdale’s, which hired “several hundred employees” for the Ala Moana store, has positioned itself to capitalize on the state’s large tourist market with a Visitors Center staffed with workers who speak Japanese, Korean, Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese), Spanish and French. The center will offer multilingual store directories, complimentary coat and bag check, concierge services, hotel package delivery and appointments with style advisers.

A dedicated tourism manager will work with tour groups to coordinate fashion shows, afternoon teas and cocktail parties. Starting with the Ala Moana store’s opening, Bloomingdale’s will be rolling out an International Loyalty Club, allowing tourists to earn points on their purchases for gift cards, car service and local activities such as surfing lessons. The center also will have a limited-access VIP lounge offering food and beverage service, a Bluetooth printer and iPads, a charging station and private restrooms.

The retailer has incorporated technology throughout the store. Dressing rooms have phone charging stations, customer intercoms, and high-tech mirrors that can be adjusted to re-create different lighting for the office, outdoors and evening.

In addition, Bloomingdale’s has included a community center free of charge for events, shows and meetings. It also brought to Hawaii its 40 Carrots restaurant and yogurt bar.

Bloomingdale’s executives, who came to Hawaii two years ago to plot the store’s inception, hope the location will be a one-stop shop for Ala Moana shoppers.

“We were so excited about the opportunity to be here in this center (and to) be in Hawaii. We started the process of designing a store we thought would excite, satisfy and thrill customers here,” said Jack Hruska, executive vice president of Creative Services. “What turned out better than even I had imagined is how we embraced the local community here. There are touches that really now makes this store unique to this marketplace but a powerful Bloomingdale’s.”

Also opening Thursday in the Ewa wing project, which is expanding the former Sears space to 650,000 square feet on three levels, are 40 of 60 new tenants.

Nordstrom will be relocating to a new 185,000-square-foot space in March, while Foodland Super Market Ltd. — one of the center’s original tenants — is returning to the shopping mall with the opening of Foodland Farms in July. Shirokiya will open a $35 million Japanese food village in June.