There were sharks. There were princesses. And there was Elvis. The little tyke created a commotion as he made his way along the Kukui Grove Shopping Center after winning one of the prizes in the mall’s costume contest. Jonell Kaohelaulii,
There were sharks. There were princesses. And there was Elvis.
The little tyke created a commotion as he made his way along the Kukui Grove Shopping Center after winning one of the prizes in the mall’s costume contest.
Jonell Kaohelaulii, the mall’s marketing director, said her staff was overwhelmed by the number of contestants that showed up for the costume contest despite a downpour just before the witching hour.
“We had over a hundred blinkies to keep keiki safe in their neighborhood, and we gave them all out,” Kaohelaulii said as she walked the mall watching the tenants distribute Halloween goodies.
The Halloween excitement, however, is only a preview of more holiday excitement in store for shoppers as Kaohelaulii said the Calendar Shop is now open for holiday shopping.
“Meyvn opens their doors Friday,” Kaohelaulii said as she watched the commotion that followed a tiny Elvis who accepted treats from a trio of sea creatures and a surfer girl from Underground.
Kaohelaulii said merchandise for the new skate shop has been arriving throughout the week and the opening should create more excitement this weekend.
Underground was just one of the many tenants within the mall that was totally involved in Halloween, its staff dressed in outfits of a honu, starfish and nori.
“We’re really happy that so many tenants are involved,” Kaohelaulii said. “And there were so many children from little tiny ones to big, big ones. Even the adults were involved.”
Kaohelaulii said just prior to the start of the costume contest adults kept asking if they had a division.
“I even had a grandma ask if she could be in the contest,” Kaohelaulii said. Based on this response, she’s making bigger plans for Halloween 2007.
Over at Kaua‘i Bakery, Lei and Dean Nakayama, dressed as a character from “Grease” and a University of Hawai‘i football booster, respectively, the activity quickly wiped out their supply of candy.
That sent Lei scrambling from the kitchen to distribute packets of malasada.
“We had over 20 dozen and they’re all gone,” Dean said, noting that everything was cleaned out within an hour.
The hectic nature of the Halloween parade overflowed as customers arriving to pick up orders of cakes and other goodies left with an additional gift of Halloween cookies or malasadas.
“It’s all left over,” Dean said with a smile. “Halloween is over today.”
