After months and months of anticipation, Hawai‘i’s newest Starbucks coffee store opened on Friday at the Kukui Grove Center (KGC).
“The opening of Starbucks is not your typical tenant opening,” said KGC General Manager Wade Lord. “It represents the entry of leading edge restauranteurs and retailers to the Garden Island, and it definitely heralds a dynamic change in the mall’s tenant mix.”
Coffee Partners Hawaii, in a joint partnership with Starbucks International Inc. and Cafe Hawaii Partners, opened the island store, the 41st in the state.
“We are extremely excited about bringing the Starbucks experience to Kaua‘i,” said James Butler, the Director of Operations for Coffee Partners Hawaii. “We want to thank the mall and its managers for the opportunity to be here and serve the community.”
The 1,470 square foot store was built by the McCabe Construction company after Coffee Partners received a building permit at around Thanksgiving. The store includes a leather sofa as well as love seats in addition to outdoor seating.
“We want to be the finest purveyors of coffee and create a third-place experience for our customers,” said Starbucks Hawaii District Manager Joanne Kapalolu. “We want to provide a great work environment for our employees. That is number one in our mission statement.
“Our goal is to be the third place for people. When people aren’t at home or at work, we want them to be here. It’s a place that is comfortable because of the furniture, the music and the atmosphere that we want to create.”
The store held a blessing on Wednesday afternoon before holding a “soft” opening on Friday. A Grand Opening celebration will be held in approximately 4-6 weeks.
The store has been one of the newest attractions at the Center which has recently renovated its location.
“Tenants like Starbucks and Jamba Juice, along with Cold Stone Creamery and Quiznos, will bring a brand new retail experience to Kaua‘i, something that many locals haven’t had before,” Lord said.
Currently, there are 7,000 store locations throughout the world and Kapololu believes that the Starbucks’ logo should help with sales.
“To me, we don’t have any competition,” she said. “We bring a lot to the mall because the (Starbucks) brand has such recognition. The name is so built up that visitors, when they see the logo, will stop and come by.”
Larry Hawelu, native Kaua‘i resident, is the store’s General Manager. He has over 17 years of restaurant manager experience and was most recently a Restaurant Manager at the Fishbowls Restaurant.
As General Manager for Starbucks Kukui Grove, Hawelu is responsible for the day-to-day store operations, partner hiring and training, inventory control and customer satisfaction.
Hawelu and Kapololu were on hand on Friday for the “soft” opening which featured strong sales and busy lines.
Initially, Hawelu and Kapololu had to overcome a few obstacles.
“There have been some challenges,” said Kapololu. “Being in a new market and trying to find vendors can be challenging.”
Another obstacle that Kapololu delved into was the hiring process for the store’s employees.
“It was kind of shocking for us,” said the District Manager.
“Normally, when we have a job fair on O‘ahu, we are inundated with applications. We had a really low turnout for the job fair.
“The most successful thing I did was put out a banner. That’s where I got the most people. I think that was challenging for us was finding good people to work here.”
Kapololu did find 26 “good” island people to work at the store.
“We had really good training sessions,” she said.
“It was very individualized and there was a lot of attention to detail. We did have to train around construction (at the store) but it was worth it.”
Starbucks opened its first location in Seattle in 1971 and is the “leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world.”
The new Starbucks Kaua‘i store will be open Sunday to Thursday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Business Editor Barry Graham can be reached at 245-3681 Ext. 251 or mailto:bgraham@pulitzer.net
