Walk the upper level of Windward Mall today and you will pass the footprint where Macy's used to be. The store closed in 2023 and the building came down in early 2024, following Sears, which shut its doors back in April 2019 and eventually gave way to a Target that opened in 2022. Two of the mall's four original anchor spots have turned over in the last seven years, and the building itself now runs closer to Target, Ross Dress for Less, Planet Fitness, and Regal Cinemas than to the department-store mix that opened it decades ago.
Meanwhile, on a Saturday evening in June, more than a hundred vendors and thousands of people packed an 80,000-square-foot lot on Alaloa Street, directly across from the mall's own front doors. That is the Kaneohe Night Market, and its most recent installment ran June 20, 2026, from 4 to 9 p.m., free to attend, with food trucks, craft booths, and live sets stacked back to back. Windward Mall and the lot across the street offer different kinds of activity.
The mall's anchor changes are one part of that picture.
Changes at Windward Mall
The pattern at Windward Mall is not a single closure, it is a sequence. Sears left first, in 2019, and the space sat until Target moved in three years later. Then Macy's, originally a Liberty House location before the brand changeover, closed in 2023 and was torn down in early 2024. According to the mall's own documented history, it is a 530,000-square-foot property owned by Kamehameha Schools and managed by Jones Lang LaSalle, and the anchor lineup that remains today is a mix of value retail, fitness, and entertainment rather than the department-store model the building was built around.
Planet Fitness filled part of that gap in 2025, joining a tenant mix that also includes retail and entertainment.
Markets and Dining Inside Windward Mall
Two parts of the mall's current mix are the farmers market and dining.
The first is the Plenty of Aloha Farmers Market, which has run inside Windward Mall for 15 years on a fixed schedule: Wednesdays from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to the state tourism authority's own listing. It is also, by most accounts, the only indoor, air-conditioned farmers market in the state, which matters more than it sounds like it should when you are comparing it to an outdoor market on a July afternoon. Its consistent twice-weekly schedule has continued alongside changes to the mall's anchor stores.
The second is Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya, which recently opened inside the mall and adds to its dining options.
Restaurants and Other Local Options
Kaneohe's food scene includes businesses inside and around Windward Mall.
| Where | What opened | When |
|---|---|---|
| Inside Windward Mall | Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya | Recently |
| Kamehameha Highway, next to Fresh Catch | Popeyes, the chain's 8th Oahu location | May 2026 |
| Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center | East Side Bar & Grill, with live music nights and kupuna and military discounts | Established fixture |
The Popeyes opening is the freshest data point here. It opened next to Fresh Catch on Kamehameha Highway in May 2026 with two drive-through lanes, a format built for volume and speed rather than sit-down dining, and it is the eighth Popeyes location on the entire island. The location is on the Windward side's main commercial corridor.
East Side Bar & Grill, at Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center rather than Windward Mall itself, has built a recurring calendar around live entertainment several nights a week along with discount nights for kupuna and military members. It is a separate property from the mall, run by an owner with deep local roots in the area, and it is one example of dining and live entertainment at a standalone shopping center.
The Kaneohe Night Market
The Kaneohe Night Market runs in the lot across Alaloa Street from Windward Mall, not inside the building, and organizers describe it as one of the town's biggest recurring events. Recent installments have drawn well over a hundred vendors selling food, crafts, and art, with live music filling the schedule and lines at food trucks long enough that regulars plan around them.
Windward Mall, with its remaining anchors and food court, sits on one side of Alaloa Street; the market takes place in a parking lot on the other. The mall and the market offer different settings for shopping, dining, and events.
What This Means If You Live Here
Windward Mall remains part of Kaneohe's commercial mix, with Target, Ross, Regal, and Planet Fitness, as well as the farmers market inside. Nearby, the Alaloa Street lot hosts the Night Market, Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center has dining and live entertainment, and Kamehameha Highway has a drive-through restaurant.
For residents, Kaneohe's commercial options span indoor and outdoor settings and suit different occasions.
If you are curious how these shifts in a neighborhood's daily rhythm connect to what is happening in its housing market, that is exactly the kind of local read The Oahuist tracks street by street across Oahu. Reach out any time you want a conversation about what is actually happening in Kaneohe, on the market side or otherwise.
