“Retail theater” arrived on Kaua’i Friday with the formal change of Liberty House to Macy’s at the Kukui Grove Center location. “Retail theater” is what Macy’s calls the shopping experience at its stores, which Friday formally added the 18 former
“Retail theater” arrived on Kaua’i Friday with the formal change of Liberty House to Macy’s at the Kukui Grove Center location.
“Retail theater” is what Macy’s calls the shopping experience at its stores, which Friday formally added the 18 former Liberty House locations in Hawai’i and Guam.
The company’s stated goal is to become the state’s number-one retailer.
A low-key blessing, untying of the maile lei and unveiling of the new Macy’s store signs early Friday morning heralded the change which also saw the Macy’s Kukui Grove Center employees suddenly under the wing of one of the world’s largest retailers.
The sale of Liberty House to Federated Department Stores, Macy’s parent company, was finalized in July of this year.
The Kukui Grove Macy’s is 50,400 square feet, with 116 employees. Stephanie Chirrick is the island’s first Macy’s store manager. Throughout Hawai’i and Guam, Macy’s has around 2,500 employees.
Macy’s West, a division of Federated that the Hawai’i and Guam stores are a part of, has 137 stores in Arizona, California, Hawai’i, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Guam. Sales last year were $4.268 billion.
Federated, with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, has over 440 department stores in 34 states, Puerto Rico and Guam, and also operates the Fingerhut, Macy’s By Mail and Bloomingdale’s By Mail catalogs, and macys.com and bloomingdales.com e-commerce sites. Annual sales are over $18.4 billion.
With the closing down earlier this year of the Coconut Marketplace Liberty House store, Kaua’i became the only major Hawaiian island without both a Macy’s department store and a specialty store.
While preferring not to discuss specific hourly wages of employees, a spokesperson for Macy’s said the company offers competitive wages, based on experience. That may or may not mean that the former Liberty House employees who are now Macy’s employees got raises at the changeover.
Because of the state’s distinct island lifestyle and culture, Hawai’i is the only market in the Macy’s division that has local buyers focusing on specifically Hawai’i-made and island-appropriate merchandise.
In addition to familiar names like Tori Richards, Reyn Spooner, Hawaiian Style and Young Hawai’i, Macy’s customers will get their first looks at some of Macy’s exclusive private brands, like Alfani, I.N.C., Greendog, Charter Club and Tools of the Trade.
Arnold Palmer apparel is for the golfer who sees golf as a lifestyle as well as a sport, and is one of the lines new to the Kaua’i Macy’s.
Coming in with Macy’s is the store’s nationally recognized bridal registry program, the complimentary Macy’s By Appointment personal shopping service, and a national commitment to giving back to the communities where it does business.
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Children’s Discovery Center and Hawai’i Foodbank are initial recipients of proceeds from special events and sales of certain items through the grand opening period and into the new year.
Nationally, Macy’s has developed giving programs that encourage employees to participate in worthy causes through its “Partners in Time” program, and especially focuses on issues of breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, programs to feed the hungry, education, and cultural enrichment.
