The 50 employees will be paid through March 31 and will be offered opportunities to work at the flagship store in Ala Moana Center, spokeswoman Sheila Donnelly said today.
Discussions are ongoing about the future of the other stores.
The Ala Moana outlet remains open under a lease that runs until 2003, while the Maui store in the Kaahumanu Center has about a year left on its lease, she said. The company has had trouble selling the stores because of the short times remaining on their leases. There was a tremendous outpouring of support from the public as well as business and government leaders after Tokyu initially said it would close the Hawaii stores and then, in late January 2000, announced it would sell them. Thousands of Shirokiya customers signed petitions pledging their support and pleading with the company to keep them open. Sources say restructuring moves are under discussion that could lead to keeping the remaining stores in business.