Menu

windward mall

Escalators Are Not Exercise Machines

, , , ,

Please keep that in mind the next time you’re riding an escalator and repeat to yourself, “Escalators are not exercise machines.” If you forget, this sign will help you remember.

escalator-exercise-machine-1

Now I would have expected something like this at Ala Moana where it seems mandatory that at least one set of escalators is broken. But alas, I guess some Windward guests were overly zealous with their exercise routines in the mall and caused this outage.

escalator-exercise-machine-2

So remember that escalators are not exercise machines.

Ross Windward Mall Opens This Week

, , , , ,

ross-windwardmall- - 3

Are you ready? Hawaii’s latest Ross location in Hawaii opens in Windward Mall on Friday, October 12, 2018 according to the Ross store locator.

ross-windward-mall-announcement

Now I don’t know what time the store actually opens since I doubt the grand opening would actually occur at 7:30am. I mean the Ala Moana grand opening didn’t occur at 7:30am.

Anyways, the Windward Mall location is shaping up, but there’s still work to be done, mainly with inventory. The exterior entry way was full of Matson containers unloading the goods and dumpsters full of now-empty boxes. Sorry no pictures of this.

On the interior of the mall, you can get a glimpse of the familiar Ross design.

ross-windwardmall- - 2

The racks are filling up, but the men’s shoe section looks woefully empty for now. But as evident by all these emptied boxes, there’s more stocking to be done.

Are you going to check out Ross Windward Mall on opening day?

Asked to Leave… Again

, , , ,

It’s been a few years since I was asked to leave a store, but it finally happened again. Well, to be clear, I wasn’t directly asked to leave the store, but I could not have my drink in the store, so I took it as an indirect request to leave the store. And I did, but this time, this incident was at the Halloween seasonal store at Windward Mall.

Pardon my blocked camera lens

The store moved into the old Children’s Place location near the former Sports Authority and relocated play area, now dubbed the Zen Pen.


Walking through the store, the worker told me no food or drinks were allowed and offered to hold my Starbucks. I wasn’t about to give up my $5+ SBUX crack, so I walked out the door where I only then saw their fair warning sign.


I’ll give them that much. They did warn their customers though I’m not quite sure of the reasoning. I should have stuck around to see what happened to the family with young kids (everyone holding some kind of drink) that entered as I left the store. 

Changes at Windward Mall

, , , ,

Could it be that I haven’t been to Windward Mall since the holiday shopping season of 2015? Wow, that’s a long time, and in that time, there have been several changes. Let’s take a look shall we?

While the food court has been blanketed in free WiFi for some time and Starbucks provides speedy Google WiFi service, now the entire mall is connected. I admit that I haven’t tried the mall’s WiFi since typically these are just oversaturated and bogged down.

windward-mall-wifi

I think this is a change, but the upstairs Aeropostle store is now a Factory Store, assumedly offering discounted, older lines.

windward-mall-aeropostle-factory

Sadly the kids play area outside of Sports Authority (and the now closed Children’s Place) is rather sad.

windward-mall-play-area

Yes, it’s open, but without the islands to climb on, this open space isn’t so fun. But I do recall hearing that the play area is moving to another wing so maybe, this is just transitional during the relocation.

Jeans Warehouse is on the move.

windward-mall-jeans-warehouse

Already moved are Journeys and Local Motion. Previously located on the ground floor near the mall’s center, these locations are now upstairs.

windward-mall-journeys

windward-mall-local-motion

But then, if these two long-time tenants moved, what’s in their former locations? Take a look from upstairs.

windwardmall-vs

Here’s a closer look.

windward-mall-vs1

Yup, the Secrets of Victoria will be gracing the Windward side residents in a sizable location starting the Spring of 2016.

Bath & Body Works Windward Mall

, , ,

bath-body-works-windward
Bath & Body Works quietly opened its doors in Windward Mall during the week of October 5, 2015. Occupying a “corner” location, this unusually shaped store is fully stocked with fall and Halloween-seasonal scents.

You can sample Vampire’s Blood, House of Horrors, Ghoul Friend or perhaps some Pumpkin Pecan Waffles, Pumpkin Latte, or Pumpkin Cupcake. Click on the image below to see more pictures.

Bath & Body Works

Signs of Hawaii: No Thrashing

, , , ,

I really don’t know what to make of this sign other than thrashing must really be an issue. This sign was posted all over Simply Halloween, a seasonal store in Windward Mall with great discounts on Halloween-themed items.

no-thrashing

To be honest, I don’t know what “thrashing” means in this context, and Urban Dictionary isn’t much help with their definitions. Whatever the case may be, just remember – NO THRASHING!

But now, I am curious what brought on all these signs. I shoulda asked one of the workers about this…

IHOP Closed

, , , , ,

Truthfully, I didn’t see this one happening but draw the curtains on IHOP at Windward Mall since they’re now closed.

ihop-closed

Okay, IHOP isn’t known for fine dining, but they are a well known breakfast chain and being the only place open in Windward Mall in the mornings, I thought that would be all the advantage they’d need. I guess I was wrong. Luckily, Big City Diner is scheduled to move in and open in 2015.

Discover Windward

, , ,

On Saturday, July 26, 2014, Windward Mall hosted the Discover Windward event. This gathering featured neighborhood vendors, live music, and food truck fare and was kicked off with a social media-based scavenger hunt. Thirty of us canvased the mall looking for, tagging, and posting these depictions:

  1. This is so #DiscoverWindward
  2. Made in Hawaii
  3. Nomz
  4. I didn’t know this about @WindwardMall
  5. Family friendly fun
  6. Can someone buy this for me please?
  7. The coolest thing I’ve seen all day!
  8. This is my jam

Here are some of my (non-winning) submissions. In fact, since I stayed at the mall after the official scavenger hunt, I almost had another set of #DiscoverWindward submissions.

Although I didn’t win any individual prizes, every participant received a goodie bag and was treated to an overall fun night out. Congratulations to the Ozawa family for taking the top prize with this awesome (and akamai) collage. As soon as I saw that entry in my #DiscoverWindward Twitter stream, I thought to myself, “great idea.”

If you want to discover Windward, be sure to follow Windward Mall online.

Wait, Mocha Java Cafe Is Still at Windward Mall?

, , , ,

Wait, what? Last I knew it, Mocha Java Cafe in Windward Mall was done for. It’s space was vacated as the new Starbucks location opened up across the way.

Moved
Moved

But while checking out the future space of the Hokulani Bake Shop, I noticed this sign. The logo looked familiar but the name, MJ Cafe, just sounded so different. Then it finally dawned upon me that MJ wasn’t someone’s name, it stood for Mocha Java. MJ Cafe moved a few doors down, closer to Sports Authority in a much larger space, and they’ve been there for sometime.

MJ Cafe
MJ Cafe

So that brings up the obvious question – why didn’t they keep the recognized name of Mocha Java Cafe? Was there a business falling out or an independent branching out. Whatever the case may be, I mistakenly thought Mocha Java Cafe had vacated Windward Mall. I was wrong.

Starbucks Windward Mall Now Open

, , , , , ,

sbux-windward-logo
The mermaid

As of Thursday, September 5, 2013, the Starbucks location inside of Windward Mall is open for business. A scant month ago, the construction sign was posted, and now it’s here, neighboring the Pa’ina Ko’olau food court.

This is the third Starbucks location in Kaneohe with the drive-through located across the street and the renovated storefront in the Windward City Shopping Center. The Windward Mall addition is on the small side, occupying a mere cornered angle of mall real estate. So far, there is no Starbucks signage, just the familiar mermaid logo identifying their arrival.

sbux-windward-front
Starbucks Windward Mall

Being new, this Starbucks has the modern rustic look that’s making its way through other stores. Shades of various browns, wood finishes, and tiled patterns appear to be the trend.

Future Starbucks at Windward Mall

, , , , , ,

Here’s proof positive that Starbucks is headed to Windward Mall.

Coming down the center escalator, what’s that white walled off area?

What's that behind the white wall?
What’s that behind the white wall?

What does that sign say?

Can you read the sign?
Can you read the sign?

Yup, Starbucks coming soon.

Starbucks coming soon
Starbucks coming soon

And I know what you’re asking… where did Cinnabon go? Still listed on the Windward Mall web site, I didn’t see a relocation for Cinnabon, and I remember that the long time Kahala location also closed down. There are still Cinnabon locations at Pearlridge and Ala Moana, right?

Oh, and I don’t know when the new Starbucks location at Windward Mall is opening up. 😉

Load More