Starbucks appears to be brewing up its first store in Honolulu’s urban core with drive-thru service.
Construction recently began at Kahala Mall in a portion of the shopping center’s parking lot, and though the coffee retailer and the mall are being hush-hush about the work, building permits indicate a stand-alone Starbucks with a drive-thru is being built.
Floyd Williamson, the mall’s general manager, deferred comment to Starbucks.
A Starbucks spokeswoman would not confirm the new store construction, but issued the following written statement: "Starbucks is always looking for great locations to better meet the needs of our customers and we are continually evaluating our store portfolio. At this time, we remain focused on serving the Honolulu community at our existing stores and have no store-opening plans to announce."
In addition to Kahala Mall, a permit to build a new Starbucks store was recently issued for Aina Haina Shopping Center, also in East Honolulu.
A Starbucks with a drive-thru at Kahala Mall would be the first within Honolulu city limits, though there are five such stores in other parts of Oahu — Mililani Mauka, Waipio, Kapolei, Ewa Beach and Kaneohe — according to the company’s website.
The first Starbucks with a drive-thru in Hawaii opened in Hilo in 2003.
Starbucks has 76 stores in Hawaii, including 50 on Oahu. One of those stores is at Kahala Mall, just inside a mall entrance next to Whole Foods.
The new store is being built in a parking area just outside Macy’s fronting Kilauea Avenue.
The retail coffee behemoth entered Hawaii in 1996 under a joint venture led by an affiliate of local retail and real estate development firm The MacNaughton Group. Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. bought out its partner’s 95 percent stake in the venture in 2006.
