Meier, who heads the local partnership that runs Hawai'i's 25 Jamba stores, half winces and half smiles at the prospect of trying to rebuild the record success of the store, which will move to the opposite end of Victoria Ward Centers in a complex to be built on the site of a former Tesoro gas station at Ward Avenue and Auahi Street.

"You don't want to move your No. 1 store, but if it makes sense for a longer-term perspective that allows the greater area to become a more dynamic destination for customers ... I think we are just happy to be a part of it," he said.

Victoria Ward, a General Growth Properties company, plans to construct two new retail buildings for Jamba Juice and 10 other businesses that will be able to open new stores before closing the existing ones at Ward Village in advance of the holiday season.

Though planned as a smooth transition, there are uncertainties with the moves that are doubled for Meier's Coffee Partners Hawaii, which also is the local licensee of Starbucks, another Ward Village tenant that will move to the old Tesoro site.

Victoria Ward, which developed Ward Village as an interim use and kept tenants appraised of the tentative existence of the building, said only one tenant, dry-cleaner Hakuyosha, elected not to relocate. Others, including Kua 'Aina, Roxy and Xcel, will move to spaces to be built across Auahi using part of Ward Centre's parking structure.

Starbucks, Jamba and Video Life are the only Ward Village tenants moving to the former Tesoro site.

"They've been unbelievable to work with us on this, because they didn't have to," said Leslie Brown, senior leasing manager with General Growth.

Planned for the Ward Village site is 200,000 square feet of new retail space on two levels topped by 10 levels of apartments that surround a seven-story parking structure.

When complete in late 2006, the redeveloped Ward Village property could house a Jamba and Starbucks, which have been offered space in the new project but would need to negotiate terms with General Growth.

At some point, though probably not within the next five years, the retail complex to house Jamba and Starbucks and three other tenants on the former Tesoro site will likely be replaced with something else — once again uprooting Jamba and Starbucks, which are having their move paid for by General Growth.

"We knew all along that it wasn't going to last forever," Meier said. "We've definitely had a good run. I think it will continue. I think it will get better as they bring more retail, and the residential component comes in. We're looking at the big picture. Long term, I think it's all good."