McInerny's Waikiki Store
Kalakaua Avenue

McInerny's Waikiki Store
Kalakaua Avenue

McInerny was an important Hawaii clothing store. Its large Waikiki store's groundbreaking was on April 17, 1957 and its opening on November 18, 1957. This structure replaced a smaller 1950 shop in the next block with three times as much space. The building and its interior fittings cost $1 million, and it was called the "jewel" of the company. The copper roof received an acid wash to give it the desired weathered patina.

Second Image:  The first McInerny store was opened by 20 year old Michael McInerny in 1850, at the corner of Beretania and Smith Streets. He had come to Hawaii as a carpenter on a clipper ship and decided to stay.

Third Image:  Display window at the McInerny Waikiki store; Honolulu, Hawaii, 1961. The McInery Waikiki store had three sections. The facade of the right side had display windows in a zigzag layout; there were 19 show windows in all, and 5 entrances. A replica tiki about 15 feet tall, copied from one in the Bishop Museum, was placed outside the building.

Fourth Image:  Partly demolished McInerny store on Kalakaua Avenue, used as an on-site office during the construction of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki, 1978. Waikiki grew so quickly that the McInerny store only lasted for 21 years. For the construction of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, the two ends of the McInerny building were demolished in 1978. Seen here, the center section was retained for the project's construction site office till it was removed in 1980. McInerny opened on June 3, 1980 as an anchor tenant of the new Royal Hawaiian Center. However, all the McInerny stores closed for good on January 31, 2003.

DeSoto Brown