Aloha, Target.
The Minneapolis-based retailer opens its first two stores today in Hawaii -- its 50th state -- with offerings that will have a decidedly local flair.
Surfboards will be on sale, for the first time at any Target store, including three from Hawaiian-based NSP Surfboards. Flip-flops will be sold year-round, and will take up 2 1/2 times as much floor space as in a typical store. And employees will shuck the solid red shirts and instead be decked out in hibiscus-and-bullseye-splashed shirts designed by Hawaiian resort-wear designer Tori Richard.
The stores are located on the island of Oahu, in suburbs west of Honolulu. A third store is scheduled to open in Kona on the big island of Hawaii in July.
Wal-Mart, Costco and Kmart preceded Target to Hawaii. But Bill Bremner, Target's senior buyer for new markets, said the company spent two years researching the area and finding local-based businesses selling products not available in other mass retail outlets.
The "Aloha Shop" at the front of the stores will carry local souvenirs aimed at bringing in tourist traffic as well as locals looking for gifts, Bremner said. Among the offerings: koa wood bowls, poi wood picture frames, Lee's Ceramics, lotions and hair products from Oils of Aloha, and candy from Ed and Don's Hawaii.
The chain now has stores in all states but Vermont, notoriously anti-big box. In all, Target will open 27 new locations this week -- 21 general merchandise and six SuperTargets with grocery stores. No new stores are opening in Minnesota.
JACKIE CROSBY
