Address: 1450 ALA MOANA BOULEVARD, Honolulu, HI, 96814

Hours:

09:30 - 21:00 ( Mon - Sat )  10:00 - 19:00 ( Sun )  

Ala Moana Center in Honolulu is the largest shopping mall in Hawaii and the fifteenth largest shopping mall in the United States. It currently holds the distinction of being the largest open-air shopping center in the world.

Located at 1450 Ala Moana Boulevard, Ala Moana Center is part of the commercial, retail, and residential district of Ala Moana, south of Makiki, east of Kaka?ako, west of Waik?k? and across from Ala Moana Beach Park.

In 1959, Ala Moana Center became the largest shopping mall in the United States, only to be overshadowed years later by new retail developments across the nation. General Growth Properties of Chicago, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange as GGP, currently owns and operates Ala Moana Center. The company uses photographs of Ala Moana Center as its flagship banner image on the properties page of its company website. Over 56 million people visit Ala Moana Center annually.

Though there are a few stores (such as Longs Drugs, Sears, and KayBee Toys) which offer products to local residents, many of the Center's stores target the tourist economy on which it so heavily relies. The shopping center focuses its marketing on tourism, providing brochures in Japanese, one of its major clientele. There are more than 290 shops and restaurants, including boutique stores of leading international fashion designers. Its current anchor tenants are Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Sears; and Nordstrom. The Center boasts one of the world's largest food courts, featuring cuisines from around the globe. Designer stores, such as Juicy Couture, Prada, Armani Exchange, Christian Dior, and the like have heavily influenced the atmosphere of Ala Moana, reportedly making it a hotspot for visitors and locals alike..

Previous to its construction, the land was a swamp. Dredging projects nearby spearheaded by Walter F. Dillingham created excess coral which filled the swamp, purchased by Dillingham in 1912 from the estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Land reclaimed, son and successor Lowell Dillingham initiated the Ala Moana Center project in 1948 and broke ground in 1957.

Heralded as the largest shopping mall in the country when it opened in 1959, its original tenants included Sears, Roebuck and Company, F. W. Woolworth Company, Foodland, Longs Drugs and Shirokiya, among other local shops. Ala Moana Center's earlier expansions including the 1966 addition of J. C. Penny and Liberty House in a new diamond head wing. The Makai Market food court was built in 1987. A 1999 expansion created a berth for Neiman Marcus and creation of more upper level retail spaces. A shopping complex and parking spaces were demolished just north of the shopping mall in 2006 to make way for General Growth's latest expansion project. Ala Moana Center's newest addition is the mauka wing, completed on March 7, 2008 and anchored by Nordstrom.

In 1982, Ala Moana Center was purchased by a partnership of Japanese corporation, Daiei, and an insurance company. In 1995, Daiei became the sole owner. Once a mere management vendor for Daiei, General Growth Properties purchased Ala Moana Center in 1999.

Sears (341,199 sq ft (31,698 m²))

Macy's (326,680 sq ft (30,350 m²))

Neiman Marcus (161,055 sq ft (14,962 m²))

Nordstrom (200,000 sq ft (20,000 m²))

Shirokiya (53,512 sq ft (4,971 m²))

Old Navy (33,221 sq ft (3,086 m²))

Barnes & Noble (30,758 sq ft (2,858 m²))

Longs Drugs (21,609 sq ft (2,008 m²))

Foodland (18,517 sq ft (1,720 m²))