Home Depot woos Kaua'i
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Home Depot is moving ahead with county permit applications for a store on Kaua'i that could be open as early as next summer.
The home-improvement retailer recently submitted store plans for design review by the Kaua'i County Planning Commission, which has scheduled a public hearing on the matter today at 1:30 p.m. at the Lihu'e Civic Center.
The store, which would be Kaua'i's first Home Depot, would be west of Kukui Grove Shopping Center, across from the Puakea Golf Course on 9.75 acres partially occupied by a driving range.
As designed, the single-story warehouse would be 95,200 square feet, with a 24,000-square-foot outdoor garden center. Proposed hours of operation would be from 5 a.m. to midnight.
Home Depot expects to hire 150 full- and part-time employees, and sell $20 million in merchandise during its first year of business, according to Max W.J. Graham Jr., a Kaua'i attorney representing the retailer in its permit applications.
The company also plans to spend $12.6 million to buy the property from Grove Farm and construct the store, Graham said.
The purchase is subject to permit approvals. Home Depot needs approval of the store design, plus permission to consolidate and resubdivide six lots making up the 9.75 acres. Graham said the company is hopeful approvals can be obtained by October, allowing construction to start by early next year in time for a summer opening.
David Pratt, president and chief executive officer of Grove Farm, said Home Depot will complement Grove-Farm-owned Kukui Grove center, which is undergoing a major remodeling. The driving range will be relocated to the golf course, which Grove Farm is expanding from 10 holes to 18 holes.
If all goes as planned, the world's largest home-improvement retailer would bring a new level of competition to Kaua'i businesses providing home construction and improvement materials to contractors and consumers.
Graham also said the company expects to spend about $12 million annually on buying local products and services such as plants, lumber treatment and concrete goods.
The planned store would be the fifth in the state for Home Depot, which has two stores on O'ahu, one on Maui, and one in Kona on the Big Island that is under construction and scheduled to open later this year. Home Depot also is looking for a store site in Hilo.
A Home Depot on Kaua'i would make the company the third national big-box retailer to establish stores on the four largest Hawaiian Islands, along with Kmart and Wal-Mart, which have stores in Lihu'e.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
