Kmart, Wal-Mart grow in Hawai'i

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Kmart and Wal-Mart both have expanded across the Islands in recent years.

Kmart has seven stores in the state, with plans for a possible eighth; Wal-Mart operates five Hawai'i stores, with plans announced last week for a sixth.

The most recent deal by Wal-Mart is for the purchase of 20 acres in Pearl City from the city for what would be its third Wal-Mart on O'ahu.

Wal-Mart operates stores in Mililani and Kunia on O'ahu, Kona and Hilo on the Big Island; and Kahului, Maui. The company also operates a Sam's Club in Pearl City.

On Kmart's side, last month the retailer took another step toward building a Super Kmart Center in Honolulu's urban core, presenting design plans for the project on about 10 acres known as the "Ke'eaumoku superblock."

The single-story store, to be open 24 hours a day with a full grocery section, would vary in height from 25 to 40 feet, contain 186,000 square feet of shopping area, provide about 700 parking stalls on the ground and offer streetfront seating for accompanying Starbucks and Jamba Juice stores.

The Kmart project is about half the size of an earlier plan for the site by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which proposed stacking a 150,000-square-foot Sam's Club on top of an equal-sized Wal-Mart adjacent to a six-story parking structure. Wal-Mart abandoned its plan last year because of issues of financial return on the investment.

Kmart's estimated $50 million project remains uncertain because of the retailer's reorganization plan, but local developer Duncan MacNaughton, who is developing the project for Kmart, has said he is confident that the retailer will be able to proceed with the new store.

Kmart has stores in Kapolei, Waikele, Iwilei and 'Aiea on O'ahu; Kona on the Big Island; Lihu'e, Kaua'i; and Kahului, Maui.