Foodland to close Beretania Street store after nearly 70 years
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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Shoppers exit Foodland’s Beretania location today.
Foodland Super Market Ltd. is closing its aging Beretania Street location on June 23.
The locally owned supermarket chain opened its fourth location in 1950.
The store’s 73 employees will be offered positions at other Oahu locations.
“Closing a store we have operated for 70 years is not something we take lightly — especially because of the impact it will have on our loyal customers and dedicated employees,” Jenai Wall, Foodland chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “Yet while we are saddened to exit this location, the increasing repair and maintenance costs associated with operating a store in a 70-year old facility are no longer sustainable, and unfortunately, renovating this store to the standards our customers deserve is cost prohibitive.”
The company, which is opening three new Foodland Farms over the next year at Pearl City Gateway, Ka Makana Alii in Kapolei and at Kuono Marketplace in Kahala, said it hopes to build a new grocery store in Makiki in the near future.
Founded in 1948 by the late Maurice J. “Sully” Sullivan, Foodland was the first supermarket in Hawaii. It operates 33 stores and has more than 2,600 employees at Foodland, Sack N Save and Foodland Farms on four islands.