Ala Moana Center - History

History

Previous to its construction, the land was a swamp. Dredging projects nearby spearheaded by Walter F. Dillingham created excess coral which filled the swamp, purchased by Dillingham in 1912 from the estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Land reclaimed, son and successor Lowell Dillingham initiated the Ala Moana Center project in 1948 and broke ground in 1957.

The Ala Moana Center was developed and designed by Don Graham. Critics viewed Graham's unusual design, which oriented the mall away from the Pacific Ocean and included two levels for retail and parking, as a potential failure. However, the Ala Moana Center proved a success after its opening and refocused the retail center of Oahu away from downtown Honolulu. Graham worked as the center's first general manager after its opening.

In 1959, Ala Moana Center became the largest shopping mall in the United States, only to be overshadowed years later by new retail developments across the nation. General Growth Properties of Chicago, which used to trade on the New York Stock Exchange as GGP, currently owns and operates Ala Moana Center. The company uses photographs of Ala Moana Center as its flagship banner image on the properties page of its company website.

Heralded as the largest shopping mall in the country when it opened in 1966, its original tenants included Sears, Roebuck and Company; F. W. Woolworth Company; Foodland; Longs Drugs; and Shirokiya, among other local shops. Ala Moana Center's earlier expansions including the 1966 addition of J. C. Penney and Liberty House in a new Diamond Head wing. The Makai Market food court was built in 1987. A 1999 expansion created a berth for Neiman Marcus and creation of more upper level retail spaces. A shopping complex and parking spaces were demolished just north of the shopping mall in 2006 to make way for General Growth's latest expansion project. Ala Moana Center's newest addition is the mauka wing, completed on March 7, 2008 and anchored by Nordstrom.

In 1982, Ala Moana Center was purchased by a partnership of Japanese corporation, Daiei, and an insurance company. In 1995, Daiei became the sole owner. Once a management vendor for Daiei, General Growth Properties purchased Ala Moana Center in 1999.

In a June 26, 2009 report from U.S. News & World Report, Ala Moana was ranked as the second most profitable mall in America based on sales per square footage, and also had one of the highest occupancy rates:

"Ala Moana, Honolulu, Hawaii. (Occupancy rate: 95 percent*; sales per square foot: $1,125). This upscale shopping mecca near Waikiki is a gold mine, with annual sales of more than $1 billion. While other malls are struggling to hang onto tenants, Ala Moana recently added a new wing with 30 additional retailers."

On February 23, 2012, Sears Holdings Corp. announced it would close its Sears store at Ala Moana Center by early 2013, as part of a $270 million sale of 11 properties nationwide to General Growth. The financial newspaper The Wall Street Journal estimated that the Ala Moana Sears location was the largest portion of the deal, comprising between $200 million to $250 million of the overall sale price. Ala Moana Center has not announced what retailers would replace the Sears location.