Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters have permeated the far reaches of consumer merchandise over several decades, from stationery and pencils to cell phone covers and USB flash drives.

If it's a backpack, steering wheel cover, athletic shoes or luggage — anything imprintable — there's a good chance Tokyo-based Sanrio Co. Ltd. has branded it.

In March, the selection of Sanrio-branded merchandise in Hawaii will be expanded to freshly prepared food.

The owner of two Sanrio Surprises retail stores on Oahu plans to open a Sanrio Cafe that will feature items including sandwiches, pastries, coffee, smoothies, salads and other items.

The cafe is slated to open as part of an expanded Sanrio store at Pearlridge Center.

Ben Chow, who owns the store as well as the Sanrio Surprises in Kahala Mall, obtained approval to add a cafe for carry-out orders, becoming the only Sanrio-licensed cafe operator in the U.S.

Chow, who has sold Hello Kitty merchandise in Hawaii since 1983 and opened his first Hello Kitty-branded store in 1993, will own the cafe but has contracted with Cafe Laufer owner and pastry chef Cyrus Goo to produce the food items.

On the menu will be a variety of deli sandwiches made with Hello Kitty's face baked into the bread. Other items featuring images of Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters such as Pochacco and Keroppi will include cakes and pastries.

Goo said some offerings such as smoothies may be named after Sanrio characters based on their characteristics. For example, a strawberry smoothie for Hello Kitty and a honeydew melon smoothie for Keroppi, who is green.

The venture isn't the first Sanrio cafe for Hawaii. Sanrio in 1999 opened a cafe at its company-owned store at Ala Moana Center. But that cafe closed two years later. Ken Yamamoto, a senior vice president at Sanrio's U.S. subsidiary in San Francisco, said the cafe at Ala Moana failed because it didn't have the right operating partner.

Sanrio presently operates cafes in Asia and other parts of the world, some of which are full-service restaurants with seating and Hello Kitty-inspired decor. Some cafe items overseas include hamburgers with buns in the shape of Hello Kitty, Sanrio characters molded into Jell-O and lattes whipped up with Hello Kitty's image in the froth.

Sheena Passan, a Hello Kitty fan who in January visited one of the restaurants in Taiwan called Hello Kitty Sweets, said the atmosphere was fun and fancy. "The food was really sweet — just as the name of the cafe," she said.

Chow said the Pearlridge cafe will initially feature a counter for take-out orders, but that he intends to expand the operation into a full-service restaurant in 2011.

"Now is just the planning stage,"he said, adding that he envisions opening more Hello Kitty-themed restaurants in places such as Waikíkí, Ala Moana or Ward Centers.