International Market Place

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Yesterday on my Retail Therapy walk I passed by the area formerly inhabited by the International Market Place with entrances off Kalakaua and Kuhio Avenues. It is now closed and suggested to reopen possibly as early as August.

When it reopens it will retain two things from the past, the 150 year old Indian Banyan tree in the court yard and the name International Marketplace! Weird huh?

The project is being financed by Taubman Centers (owners,managers and/or leasors of regional, super regional and outlet shopping Centers in the US and Asian markets.....Taubman.com) and will house top end retailers such as Saks First Avenue, seven restaurants and 75 retailers. The property itself is owned by the Queen Emma Land Company which funds one of the states largest private non profit hospitals. The income from the lessees will provide a new sustainable income to this healthcare on the islands. Once built and opened, they will create about 2500 permanent jobs. You can find out more about the Queen Emma land trust and health care system at http://queenshealthsystems.com. I guess you could say it's a win win situation. One of its main goals is to draw more of the big spenders with its name brand shopping! I'd take a wild guess and say it's the Japanese market they are targeting!

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