Target aims to open new store in Ala Moana

Target Corp. is looking to open its first downtown Honolulu store at Ala Moana Center.

The Minneapolis-based retailer recently filed building permits for interior renovations of the space formerly occupied by Nordstrom on Kapiolani Boulevard, according to an application filed with the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting.

Target is subleasing the space from Saks Fifth Avenue LLC, the filing said.

OFF 5TH, the discount brand of Saks Fifth Avenue, also plans to open a store in the former Nordstrom space next spring. That store, at 41,000 square feet, would occupy about 20 percent of of the 210,000 square feet made available in the mall’s mauka wing with the departure of Nordstrom earlier this year. Nordstrom moved into an 185,000-square-foot space in the mall’s new Ewa wing that also includes Hawaii’s first Bloomingdale’s.

Meanwhile, the state’s largest shopping center announced Thursday five new merchants that will open by the end of the year. Aerie, a lingerie store, women’s clothing retailer Charlotte Russe and Tory Sport by Tory Burch will open in the Ewa wing while Poke &Box, which sells raw fish, and Auntie Anne’s, a pretzel franchise, will open in the Makai Market food court.

A spokeswoman for Ala Moana, which has more than 340 stores and restaurants, said center executives were unable to comment at this time about Target. A Target spokeswoman wasn’t immediately available Thursday.

The Ala Moana store would be the seventh Target in the islands. The big-box retailer has three stores on Oahu, one near the airport, another in Kailua and a third in Kapolei. It also has two stores on the Big Island, one in Hilo and another in Kona, and a third on Maui, in Kahului.