On February 2nd we opened Illest Hawaii located at 680 Ala Moana Blvd in Honolulu, Hawaii. I’ve always dreamed of opening a location in Hawaii and was really close a few times but timing is always the key so we waited patiently and found a great spot in the newly modernized building in an area called Kaka’ako. Kaka’ako is located in the heart of Honolulu between Chinatown and Waikiki. It hosts art shows, a monthly night market, delicious restaurants and a yearly event called Pow Wow where artists from around the world come to paint the streets for a week in February.

Having a background in Interior Design, I always try to put my ideas behind our store buildouts. I knew I wanted something green like our other stores and using reclaim wood would be the only way to go. Through a friend, I was able meet Dae from Wood Inc. I searched his instagram and saw quite a few pieces he’s done for other stores. He built from scratch and also built using reclaim. I sent him this mock up and he emailed back a few days later and was able to find wood from Punahou Gym. Did Obama used to play on it, who knows but I was stoked to use the wood throughout the build.

Stoked on the buildout Dae did with the furniture. He took the pdf and created freely, checking in and even surprising me on ideas.

The barn door for the dressing room was the icing on the cake. Putting our world logo on the door was and added touch.

We’ll also be showcasing a new brand, Puffer Hawaii.

Opening day. Thank you to everyone who came out and continued to visit the store throughout the weekend. I’ll have the G-Shock release party up in a day so check back.

First customers! Thank you!!

We also had 2 cars on display for the opening. Samson from Revision and his LS and this awesome Celica.

Noel from Canibeat and his crew came by. They were in town to check out Wekfest as well as enjoy the Island.

Gary and his boys cruised by as well. We tried to watch the Superbowl but the internets were jammed.

Still working a bit on the details of the store so in the next couple weeks we’ll be adding little details to the store.

My reliable commuter while in town.

And right as we were closing, it got busy once again.

Come visit Illest Hawaii.
680 Ala Moana Blvd. Honolulu, Hi
1.808.888.0956
follow us on instagram: illesthawaii

Mark Arcenal

Creative Director at Arcenal
Lived the Agency life for over a decade and then moved to client side and helped in launching the biggest brand Nike has to date, Nike Sportswear as the Global Digital Lead.

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