![\"Retail](\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The first thing you need to know about the Royal Hawaiian Center<\/strong> (RHC), the 310,000-square-foot <\/strong>mall in the heart of Oahu\u2019s Waikiki, is that the \u201cRoyal\u201d in its name is no mere marketing ploy. It\u2019s built on land known since ancient times as Helumoa and was once home to Hawaiian ali\u2019i <\/em>(royalty).<\/p>\n One member of that royal family, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, great-granddaughter of Hawaii\u2019s first monarch King Kamehameha I, founded the island\u2019s Kamehameha Schools in her 1884 will \u2014 schools that are still educating students on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii to this day. As a way of honoring that educational tradition, RHC takes its own commitment to education seriously, offering daily classes in traditional Hawaiian crafts, music and storytelling (lei-making, ukelele playing and hula dancing, among others) \u2014 all at no charge to visitors.<\/p>\n The RHC even employes a cultural director, Monte McComber, to coordinate it all, and many of the classes are led by teachers with decades of experience, such as Puake\u2019ala Mann (Kumu Hula, a master teacher in the art of hula), and sixth-generation weaver Bill Keoua Nelsen.<\/p>\n The classes are just one of the experiential methods the RHC uses to drive foot traffic for the center\u2019s 90<\/strong> retail tenants, many of them iconic luxury brands including Fendi, Ferragamo, Harry Winston, Herm\u00e8s, Tiffany & Co., Valentino<\/strong> and Dean & Deluca Hawaii<\/strong>. There are family-friendly events, such as monthly stargazing sessions led by an astronomer with a seven<\/strong>-foot telescope that are held on the Ka Lewa Lanai, an outdoor rooftop venue that holds 250<\/strong> people and can be booked for private gatherings. These events, as well as music and entertainment, help the RHC attract 2.5 million<\/strong> people annually.<\/p>\n The RHC\u2019s ties to the very land it\u2019s built on are reflected in design choices throughout the center. When the land was known as Helumoa, 10,000<\/strong> coconut trees grew and gave shade; today, more than 100<\/strong> coconut trees line all three<\/strong> city blocks of the RHC. Additionally, \u201cas you walk our property, when you look up, the interior light fixtures look like palm fronds, and the railings and light fixtures have a [tree] bark pattern,\u201d said Sam Shenkus, VP and Director of Marketing at the RHC in an interview with Retail TouchPoints<\/em>. \u201cYou don\u2019t even connect it [to the trees]; it\u2019s very low-key.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the center features \u201cbenches, flowers and furniture everywhere, with landscaping inside so you know you\u2019re in Hawaii,\u201d Shenkus added. \u201cPeople visiting here are staying at some of the most beautiful resorts in the world, but when you walk into the RHC, there\u2019s no shock to your system that you\u2019re now in a \u2018mall.\u2019 It\u2019s a continuation of a very tropical, beautiful Hawaii sense of place and environment \u2014 and we happen to have stores and restaurants.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Even for individual retailers, there\u2019s a concerted effort to create a Hawaii-specific vibe. Shenkus explained that Kalakaua Avenue, where the RHC is located, is the luxury retail center of Honolulu. \u201cThe Kalakaua frontage is the top real estate,\u201d she said, noting that the stores along this street are generally two to three stories<\/strong>, designed in a townhouse architecture style on the street side. \u201cIt gives a sense of place in the design \u2014 our Herm\u00e8s doesn\u2019t look like an Herm\u00e8s store where you live; it reflects Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n The RHC takes an unusually active role in building traffic and providing customer service, in ways that both support its tenants and also promote the center itself. Shenkus gave the example of the RHC\u2019s gift with purchase program, which offers items such as a tote bag or a yoga towel, complete with an RHC logo, if shoppers spend a certain amount.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason we do this is for the luxury brands on Kalakaua \u2014 you\u2019ll never see Tiffany with a \u201850%<\/strong> off sale,\u2019 so we wanted to offer our customers something that will thank them for shopping with us, with unique, cool things that are also usable,\u201d said Shenkus. She added that RHC controls the program and takes charge of sourcing the items, which it will often tie in with holidays and events.<\/p>\n For example, \u201cfor the three<\/strong> weeks of the Lunar New Year, we offered a high-quality mesh bag and matching vanity pouch in red, which is a popular color for this holiday,\u201d said Shenkus. These were custom-made for the RHC so the gift-with-purchase threshold was high, at $750<\/strong>. However, shoppers could combine receipts from multiple stores and restaurants to earn the gifts.<\/p>\n While tourism is a key driver of the RHC\u2019s success, the center also wants to attract locals. \u201cThe number-one pushback [from locals] over the years has been parking,\u201d said Shenkus. The RHC has a 10-story <\/strong>parking structure that can house more than 600 <\/strong>vehicles, and residents with a local or military ID can earn three<\/strong> hours of parking if they spend $25<\/strong> at the RHC. The center charges for parking because its location \u2014 a three-minute<\/strong> walk to the famous Waikiki beach \u2014 means the structure would fill up with beachgoers if the parking were free, leaving few spaces for actual shoppers. More than 4,000<\/strong> shoppers per month take advantage of the parking deal.<\/p>\n Sweetening the appeal to locals is the RHC\u2019s exclusivity, particularly when it comes to dining. Shenkus reports that only two<\/strong> of the restaurants within the center also operate establishments elsewhere on Oahu; all the others are exclusive to the RHC.<\/p>\n Still, with some 30,000<\/strong> hotel rooms in the Waikiki area, and the RHC adjacent to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Sheraton Waikiki, tourists are obviously a significant part of the RHC\u2019s customer base. \u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of [a tourist area], but we want to reflect a sense of place,\u201d said Shenkus. \u201cWe want to offer world-class shopping and fabulous dining, but also give you Hawaii.\u201d That includes respect for native traditions, she noted: \u201cEvery time we open a new store, we do a traditional Hawaiian blessing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.retailtouchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RHC-Pua-Mann-Hula-Kumu-2.jpg\")
Modern Design that Pays Homage to Hawaiian Traditions<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.retailtouchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RHC-Kalakaua-Hermes.jpg\")
<\/p>\nProactive Support for Retailers<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.retailtouchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RHC-Royal-Grove.jpg\")
Creating a Space Both Tourists and Locals Love<\/strong><\/h3>\n