Macy’s announced closing at windward mall location

KANEOHE, Hawaii (KHON2) — After 41 years at Windward Mall, a Macy’s spokesperson confirmed in a statement “after careful consideration, we have decided to close our Macy’s windward center location in Oahu.”

The general manager at Windward Mall said this location will be closing spring of 2023 and as far as who will be replacing Macy’s, they’re evaluating several options at the moment.

Macy’s also addressed what will happen to the employees saying, “severance benefits will be available for eligible colleagues. In addition, colleagues may be considered for positions in neighboring stores.”

Retail experts said finding employees has been difficult the past couple of years. Tina Yamaki with retail merchants of Hawaii said, “during the pandemic, we saw that, you know, the baby boomers, they just kind of had enough and they were on the cusp of retiring. And that kind of pushed them to retire so we lost a lot of employees, not just in retail, but in most industries.”

This location closing doesn’t just affect workers but the windward shoppers as well. Many said they are sad to see this location go. A windward shopper said, “it’s kind of our version of the staple store that you go to that you can rely on. The boutiques are fun. Shopping online can be fun. But there’s nothing quite like going into Macy’s and looking around and seeing what’s there and seeing if there’s something that will work.”

Another shopper said it will be a hassle to go all the way into town if they want to shop at Macy’s and hopes something will replace the store soon.