Those iconic beachboy concession stands fronting Kuhio Beach will be closed this Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer holiday season.

But who’s to blame for shuttering the operations until next week is the subject of disagreement.

Dive Oahu manager Shelly Rofrits said Friday that the city had given the company the OK on Friday and today to move into the stands but then advised the company to not open until Tuesday, when the weekend is over.

But city spokesman Andrew Pereira said the city gave Dive Oahu a notice to proceed with its new contract Friday, and that it was the company that said it would not be ready to begin operations until Tuesday.

Friday’s developments were just the latest in a series of complications involving the city’s attempt to hand over the reins of the two concessions to Dive Oahu, which offered higher bids than longtime vendors Star Beachboys and Hawaiian Ocean’s Waikiki.

Dive Oahu won the rights for a five-year concession operating the two Kuhio Beach beachboy stands last month and were supposed to take over last week. But the owners of Star Beachboys and Hawaiian Ocean’s Waikiki are disputing the way the contract was issued by the city. Star Beachboys is seeking to stop Dive Oahu’s operation in state Circuit Court, while Hawaiian Ocean’s Waikiki physically stayed at its longtime location until threatened with arrest Tuesday night.

Rofrits said the stands will begin operations at 6 a.m. Tuesday — two main kiosks and two smaller stands that all had been run for years by the previous vendors.

Rofrits declined to say how many beachboys Dive Oahu has been able to hire. “We will have enough to completely run and operate,” she said. The company is still accepting applications for accredited beachboys, however, she said.

Aaron Rutledge, owner of Star Beachboys, said what Dive Oahu isn’t telling the public is that it will be charging the visitors more while paying the beachboys less. Dive Oahu denies that beachboys will be making less, and says because they now will be staff employees rather than independent contractors as they have been historically, they will be eligible for medical and other benefits.

As for how much Dive Oahu will now be charging, Rofrits said “it’s in line with industry standards.”

Rutledge cleared his longtime concession May 17, the day his request for a temporary restraining order was denied in state Circuit Court. He said it seems to him that Dive Oahu is being allowed to make its own rules.

Hubert Chang, who owns Hawaiian Ocean’s, said he and his attorney think he has a valid right to stay at the concession it has held for years but opted to move out Tuesday night. “The city threatened to arrest my workers, and it would have been irresponsible for me to let that happen,” he said.

Waikiki resident Dave Moskowitz said he’s disappointed for the tourists who will be in town for one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year. “This is a bad way to start a relationship,” he said.