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.

So remember that escalators are not exercise machines.

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.

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.

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?

Once open, this location will complete the Thanos-like collection of Infinity Gems aka Ross Stores in the major Oahu shopping venues of:

1. Pearlridge
2. Waikiki
3. Ward
4. Kahala
5. Ala Moana
6. Windward Mall

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. 

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

Here’s a closer look.

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

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.

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…

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.

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.

• Twitter: @WindwardMall
• Instagram: @WindwardMall
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/WindwardMall

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

What does that sign say?

Yup, 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.

And now, now Windward Mall is vindicated with its upcoming addition of Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks is making a return to the mall after its days inside of the now closed Borders. The Star Advertiser says this is the mall’s first Starbucks which I guess is technically true.

I do feel bad for Mocha Java Cafe which has been filling the mall’s caffeine niche very nicely for the past two years.

And yes, this does mean that the Froyo Wars has another casualty by the name of Yogen Fruz. Yogen Fruz was in the battle for quite a long time, and I guess its Smoothie candy strategy didn’t alter its fate.

No matter your reason for being at Windward Mall, you had to stop at Marukai just to see what was there. How else would you know that Oreos are an international snack?

Not only are Oreos world renowned, but did you know they make a great instant latte drink.

And when regular canned coffee drinks are just not cutting it, where else can you find the Boss Rainbow blend?

Seriously, it’s this kind of uniqueness that makes Marukai a must-visit store. But alas, soon there will be no more as the death knell known as store-wide clearance sales empties out Marukai’s uniqueness.

Without Marukai and Don Quijote, where do Windward residents get their Asian items?

No joke, this Sports Authority is a contender. Well, yeah, it’s new, but it’s so nice. It’s spacious, and the lighting is great, especially the lights on their shoe displays – mesmerizing.

Open only for a few weeks, the store is still well stocked with all kinds of sports goodies. Couple this with grand opening coupons, and you got yourself a prime shopping environment.

Let’s hope this Sports Authority location can keep up the momentum post Holidays.

Even the snow blowing Christmas tree is there (though not yet blowing snow).

The snow don’t blow until after Santa’s arrival on Saturday, November 17.

In the meantime, listen to modern day Christmas carols and wait for new shops like Charlotte Russe to open for gifts for good girls (and bad ones too).

Gotta keep moving forward, and Windward Mall is doing just that. Check out the store directories now in the mall – shows the forthcoming Sports Authority.

Even though the Borders location at Windward Mall closed in August 2011, it’s indirectly had a lasting impact. You see, as part of their closing sale, I discovered LEGO Minifigures (Series 4) and bought a few at discounted prices. Since then, I’ve been hooked on these “random” packages of LEGO.  With Series 7 just released, here are a few I’ve collected so far… with more to come.

Stopping by Ben and Jerry’s for Free Cone Day, I saw this new addition to Windward Mall. Yep, that’s KIA as in cars and those rapping rats.