Rob St. Onge needed to remodel his kitchen, Jade Retuta was trying to make her iPod more adaptable and Alden Uyeda wanted to build up his DVD movie collection. Well, they all went to one place yesterday: the opening of Hawai'i's first Best Buy store.

The three O'ahu residents were among close to 300 shoppers and spectators who turned out for the 10 a.m. opening of the 50,000-square-foot store at 478 Alakawa St. in Iwilei.

A mass of shoppers continued to visit the store throughout the day, creating what the city Department of Transportation Services called a major daylong traffic jam at the intersection of Alakawa and Nimitz Highway.

City officials said they were able to manipulate traffic signal cycles and manage the congestion because Best Buy had to install a traffic camera at the intersection that helped avoid more serious gridlock.

Best Buy also plans to use its property to add an extra lane to Alakawa between its main driveway and Nimitz that will create a second left-turn lane onto Nimitz. The extra lane must be built before the holiday season.

To help avoid more opening day overload on roads, Best Buy agreed with city traffic planning officials not to run a grand-opening advertising campaign or hype the event with big discounts or giveaways. However, the company did stage a keiki hula performance and entertainment by Aunty Genoa Keawe before the doors opened. Other musical entertainers are scheduled to perform over the weekend.

The early consumer response was comparable to a typical day-after-Thanksgiving shopping rush. But as the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, industry competition is sure to remain charged.

Best Buy on O'ahu joins two of its closest big-box rivals Circuit City and CompUSA, as well as department stores, membership warehouse clubs and smaller specialty stores offering consumers more choices for buying everything from a fax machine to a home theater system.

What surprised some kama'aina who had never been to a Best Buy was that the store carries a more diverse selection of goods than a typical home electronics shop or superstore.

For instance, there were about 20 models of vacuum cleaners on the shelf. Best Buy has an appliance section with garbage disposers, refrigerators, dishwashers, blenders, microwave ovens and irons. There was even a wok, can opener and hand mixer (all electronic, of course).

St. Onge, an 'Alewa resident remodeling his kitchen, was looking at ranges. "I'm not here for the electronics," he said. "I'm here for the appliances."

Home Depot, located across Alakawa from Best Buy, put out signs advertising 10 percent off any appliance, limited to a $200 discount. "We will not be undersold," the sign read. "We will meet and beat all competitor prices."

Best Buy, however, concentrates on home electronics. There were about 150 different TVs in the store, from a 5-inch portable model to a 71-inch LCD TV. The most expensive was a $13,000 Fujitsu 55-inch HD plasma model.

Other store departments include computers, audio and visual accessories for automobiles, home theater and wireless electronics.

The store also contains more than 1,000 software titles, 20,000 DVD movie titles and 25,000 CD titles that include what Best Buy said is one of the largest Hawaiian music collections in the state.

"I feel sorry for Tower Records," said Hawai'i Pacific University communications professor John Hart, who was at the store shopping for a new computer power supply.

Retuta, a Waipahu resident who recently got hooked on the iPod, bought an adapter to run the music player through her car stereo. She also picked up six DVD movies for $45, or $7.50 each, and was standing in a 100-person-deep checkout line shortly before 11 a.m. "It's worth it," she said.

Uyeda, the DVD collector, wasn't particularly enthused about being in the opening crowd, but his wife, Melanie, convinced him to come with their two children. "They supposedly have better selection than other places," Alden Uyeda said before the store opened.

Kevin Ciskowsky, a city bus driver who once worked at a Best Buy in Illinois, said he felt compelled to be the Iwilei store's first customer.

He rushed to a cash register and bought a $20 gift card. Ciskowsky said he planned to be back later in the evening after work to buy a plasma TV. "I got $2,000 in my pocket to spend," he said.

Best Buy general manager Shawn Troup said the store does not disclose sales figures, but had a strong first day. "It's on pace for the weekend to definitely be one of the best openings Best Buy has ever had," he said. "It's been great."