Thousands of tourists and locals eager to see the new Ewa wing of Ala Moana Center shuffled through the $570 million project Thursday, standing in long lines for free cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery and reusable tote bags and towels at Hawaii’s first Bloomingdale’s.
Thirty-five shops opened in the former Sears space, which was expanded to 650,000 square feet on three levels.
Ala Moana Center initially projected 40 of 60 stores would open Thursday, but some didn’t make the date because of construction delays. Mall executives were expecting a bump in overall sales but said it was too early to determine.
Orange County, Calif., residents Daniel Ramirez and Jenny Woo decided to brave the crowds at Bloomingdale’s after seeing the news of the grand opening on television.
"The store’s a lot nicer (than in California)," Ramirez said. "The staff is a lot more friendly, too. We’re just looking for grand-opening specials."
Honolulu resident Lynn Pang also went with a friend to the Ewa wing "for the free cupcakes."
"We came to see what the stores are like," she said. "It’s nice to see something here where we saw all the structures being built for so long. I wanted to see all the different stores, the new stores that we don’t have. We had a lot of fun today."
The Mauka Ewa Parking Structure also opened. It has five levels and 4,500 stalls.
More stores are slated to open in the new wing next year.
Nordstrom will relocate 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.
