Hermes expands Waikiki presence and products

It’s been said that Kala­kaua Avenue is the Rodeo Drive of Hawaii and now it’s got a new comparably sized triple-decker Hermes store to prove it.

Hermes, which entered the Hawaii market in 1989 with a smaller Royal Hawaiian Center store, will open a new 13,000-square-foot store at 10 a.m. Friday. The store is roughly the size of Hermes’ Rodeo Drive store in Beverly Hills, Calif., but it’s smaller than the company’s U.S. flagship store, a five-story, 25,000-square-foot store on Madison Avenue in New York City.

While brick-and-mortar retailers across the country are reducing space and cutting stores, Hermes reinvestment in the Hawaii market in the Royal Hawaiian Center and its 2016 expansion at Ala Moana Center affirms the importance of the Honolulu market for luxury retailers.

“Hawaii is a very important market for us. Not just in terms of the U.S. market, but we really consider it a global market because we have so many international tourists that come here. So it’s really key for us in terms of our messaging, but really from a global perspective as opposed to just a national perspective,” said Robert B. Chavez, Hermes USA president and CEO, who was in town to mark the new store’s opening. “We’ve invested a tremendous amount in the Hawaii market.”

>> View more photos of the new store in Waikiki in our gallery.

The luxury retailer is offering a limited edition collection, called Sea, Surf and Fun, for the debut of its Waikiki expansion. The modernist print by Brazilian artist Filipe Jardim features pink palm fronds, brilliant blue sea and vibrantly hued surfboards with touches of yellow and green. The collection starts at $140 for purse charms shaped like pineapples and surfboards and goes up to $28,300 for a pineapple-shaped purse. Patterned surfboards go for $10,600, including Hermes branded surfboard wax. Limited edition beach towels sell for $580, a giant scarf costs $810 and you can get hats, shoes, backpacks and more.

Real estate analyst Stephany Sofos predicts the collection will sell out and the store’s traffic will keep growing at the expanded site.

“The people who love Hermes really love Hermes. The collection and the store will do well and will certainly add to the overall ambiance of luxury retail in Waikiki and at the Royal Hawaiian Center,” Sofos said.

Chavez said Hermes has grown with Hawaii’s ultra luxury market, which is why the company “jumped” at the opportunity to increase its Royal Hawaiian Center presence.

“Our business last year in this market, both stores, had strong double-digit increases and this year is off to a great start as well,” Chavez said, adding that some 400 of Hermes’ top customers, about half from outside Hawaii, are expected to turn out tonight for the Waikiki store’s opening party.

The Royal Hawaiian Center Hermes store falls just behind the company’s Madison Avenue and Rodeo Drive stores in terms of U.S. sales volume and just before the Ala Moana Center.

As for Royal Hawaiian Center, this new investment brings the center’s luxury retail presence to about 30% of its 310,000-square-foot site — the largest luxury share ever for the center.

“The grand opening of the new Hermes flagship boutique reinforces our vision of Royal Hawaiian Center as Waikiki’s premier global luxury destination,” said Rosalind J. Schurgin, CEO of the Festival Companies, which manages the Royal Hawaiian Center.