Bubba Gump to close
Thursday, November 01, 2018 12:05 am
KAILUA-KONA — Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on Alii Drive will cease operations in December “due to lease expiration,” company senior vice president and chief operating officer Jim Dufault said Wednesday.
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It’s going to make an awesome homeless hangout while it transitions to the next business.
Kona Dude, It will happen for sure. The bags are already packed so
it will be an easy move in…Those in Charge have been warned…
poor service mediocre food .. good riddance
Parking is the problem for most of the business in the Village Area.
I always pick the areas with lots of available parking. How about
K Mart area…Bubba Gumps and a Movie. Put the thinking caps on
K-mart failed, even with all that parking.
As Raymond Babbitt would say, K Mart Sucks!!
never could compete with walley world
When they had breakfast it was a great place to watch a large Western swell with the boogie boarders.
How’s about having a The Cheesecake Factory as a replacement there? Not based on personal preference — have only eaten there a couple times, and recall it being “not bad.” But the Waikiki TCF was the highest grossing location in the nation… so just $$-wise, I figure it might similarly do well in Kona if they’re looking for another national chain-type eatery.
please no, get in a local business rather than canned corporate stuff ? when everything is yupscale then the life will have been duly sucked out and we can all go “home”, value is not measured by how much money you’re able to spend.
Sure, I was actually gonna suggest a homegrown restaurant as a “feel good”, sorta “PC” replacement (and I’m not being sarcastic). If there’s one that can work out there, great! Guess I was speaking more from a “business” mindset… figuring Watamull might be looking for something similar to Bubba Gump in character, price, volume — yes, a “canned corporate” restaurant. Either way, though, I doubt any restaurant could survive there with a lower, “non-yupscale” menu price point — not in these times.
But like many locals, I pretty much consider Kona town to be the “Waikiki” of the Big Island. It lost (most of) its soul a long time ago, and has become a place made for visitors/outsiders/transplants — what they envision “Hawaii” should be like. In that sense — Bubba Gump, Cheesecake Factory…, for me it doesn’t really matter, lol.
fair enough. I’m not local, we’ve made 18 trips over the last 22 yrs so just a little kama’aina maybe ? I hear you about waikiki, and to some extent Kona, but I see a strong phenomenon everywhere, even waikiki, that the layer of mainland BS is pretty thin, and right underneath is the natural environment itself, to see and engage with if you just give it a couple seconds. Ocean, and everywhere the incredible power of the volcanos, whether active or past. What I’m missing the last few years (since about 2005) is the slightly corny, but well-formed and useful, “aloha breakfast” culture that was presented to tourists, where they were gently told that things aren’t the way they are on the mainland, and there are good reasons for that, so partake. That’s been unfortunately replaced by a disturbing amount of planet hollywood/loud rock’n’roll/faintly strained money-based party hard atmosphere (it’s like astroturfing, the people aren’t really looking like they’re having a great time naturally, but they’re spending enough so they feel like they ought to be – “aren’t we ?” – where if they tuned out from the expensive noise and tuned in to the environment around them they’d feel reborn…). I suspect that this correlates with the economic cycles I’ve heard pass thru the tourist industry in Hawai’i. Anyway, best to you, thanks for sharing, and we’re grateful to be able to partake of and add what we can to aloha.
Hey, appreciate both the tone and content of your posts. Pretty sure I get where you’re coming from, and I wouldn’t take issue with anything you’ve said. My original post was coming from one particular viewpoint — “business”/financial/economic… and perhaps colored by a somewhat cynical/jaded/pessimistic perspective. I’m open to and acknowledge the validity of other viewpoints as well. Definitely have no personal or other stake in specifically wanting TCF to be there, lol… it was just a thought.
Regarding tourism/economic cycles — I believe we’re on the cusp of a very serious downturn here, due to the confluence of both ongoing and potential events — locally, nationally and even worldwide. If that turns out to be accurate, then who knows? Crisis brings opportunity — perhaps a chance to re-think and improve on our approaches to tourism, development, etc. here.
Not gonna miss it. I ate there twice in 18 years. Hopefully a proven chain moves in because I have yet to eat at a locally owned restaurant that had consistently good food. The only exceptions are Orchid Thai and Annies Burgers but Annies is slipping.
ate at Island Lava Java a couple weeks ago and it was awesome ! We should be so lucky to have as many good restaurants around home which has also outdoor rec attractions (Well, it’s not Hawaii, but a major climbing draw). Too much focus on money & “upscale”, which does -not- equate to quality. Aloha instead…