Sears to complete exit of Hawaii department stores

Andrew Gomes, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
·2 min read

Sep. 21—The last Sears department store in Hawaii is slated to disappear in November on Maui, completing a withdrawal that began gradually after the retailer's 2018 bankruptcy.

Transformco, the Illinois-based owner of Sears, said the Maui store's last day in business will be Nov. 14.

According to the company, the store at Maui's largest regional mall, Queen Kaahumanu Center, will be redeveloped to maximize the value of the real estate for Transformco under a plan to be announced later after it is finalized.

"With redevelopment of this location focused primarily on retail use, we intend to reinvigorate and maximize the value of the real estate while enhancing the consumer experience with popular retailers that meet the evolving needs of Kahului-Maui, " Scott Carr, the company's real estate president, said in a statement.

The move will leave Hawaii with two small-format Sears stores : a Sears Appliance &Mattress store at Ala Moana Center and a Sears Hometown Store in Kailua-Kona that sells appliances, mattresses, tools and a collection of lawn, garden and patio items.

Sears filed for bankruptcy three years ago and had four full-line department stores in Hawaii at the time : two on Oahu at Pearlridge Center and Windward Mall, one on Hawaii island at Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo and one on Maui at Queen Kaahumanu Center. A longtime flagship store at Ala Moana was sold and closed in 2013 so the mall could expand with residential and retail development.

The Windward Mall store closed in 2019, followed by the Pearlridge and Hilo stores earlier this year.

Transformco, formed by former Sears Holdings Corp. Chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert, acquired Sears in 2019 and has since been liquidating many parts of the company, which includes Kmart, while also preserving some lines of business such as appliance repair and opening new small-format stores that include the two in Hawaii.

The privately held company said it has more than 300 large and small Sears and Kmart stores nationwide, compared with 489 full-line Sears department stores in 2019.