Good news for Burger King fans, but not so much for those who love Wendy’s.
BK is planning to reopen, likely in July, in what was until this week the Wendy’s location on Palani Road, in the Kona Coast Shopping Center.
Customers have been in contact with Burger King in Hawaii, letting the burger chain’s officials know the restaurant has been missed in Kona since the Kailua-Kona store closed in October, Managing Director Denise Yamauchi said Tuesday.
“Oh yes, they’ll be happy,” she said.
Burger King’s approximately two dozen Kona employees have all been offered their old jobs back, she added. Most will be returning.
“They’re all waiting,” Yamauchi said. “They’re all ready.”
Yamauchi said the former Wendy’s site was a good location for several reasons.
“It’s very visible, very close to our other location,” she said.
A crew took down some of the Wendy’s signs on the building Monday. Yamauchi said the restaurant will be redecorated to match Burger King’s interior design.
Yamauchi told West Hawaii Today in October the Burger King closure came after lease negotiations with the property owner ended without a deal being struck.
Burger King’s Palani Road restaurant opened its doors in December 1984, according to West Hawaii Today archives.
Attempts to reach Wendy’s officials in Hawaii and in the corporation’s Ohio headquarters were unsuccessful.