• Possible Kukui Grove sale Possible Kukui Grove sale News that Kukui Grove Shopping Center is being listed for sale marks a new phase in the history of its parent company, Grove Farm. The shopping center is named for the
• Possible Kukui Grove sale
Possible Kukui Grove sale
News that Kukui Grove Shopping Center is being listed for sale marks a new phase in the history of its parent company, Grove Farm.
The shopping center is named for the historic grove of trees near the homestead from which Grove Farm took its name over 150 years ago.
Kukui Grove Center reflects the economic prosperity and modernization of Kaua‘i. The arrival of new shops and eateries – most requiring a trip to Honolulu or the West Coast for Kauaians to enjoy in the past – signals the arrival of the 21st century on the Island. Big box retailers Home Depot and soon Costco on the south side of the main shopping center symbolize the huge surge in residential and resort development on Kaua‘i.
The proposed sale is also showing the direction that Grove Farm is heading in, a move away from being a landlord.
The coming of Kukui Grove Center in the early 1980s brought a major change to Kaua‘i, as it was the first regional mall to be located on the Island. Long-time residents remember having to fly to Honolulu, or mailing away for catalogs, in order to buy many items that are now readily available at Kukui Grove. For these kama‘aina it is hard to believe the center has been open for over twenty years.
The redevelopment of the center that took place from 2002-2004 gave Kukui Grove new life. The center was hurting both in its structural skeleton and in its storefront decor. Information technology executive Steve Case is to be credited with turning the shopping center around. Part of his fortune went into the project, and now Grove Farm is saying it needs to sell the center to pay down debt incurred over the years as Grove Farm continues to develop its lands south of Lihu‘e town.
Hopefully the new owner of the center will care for Kaua‘i as much as Case and his family have. While the shopping center now has more of the flavor of a Mainland center, it still retains the aloha of the Island’s people and is a friendly place to shop and socialize.
