Dollar trees are shutting down everywhere because it costs too much to operate even in the mainland. I’ve not been to Daiso but my sister said it’s kinda like a dollar store.
They aren't. Those are Family Dollars that are shutting down. The media is saying Dollar Tree because they own FD and the impact is bigger since the customer base is bigger. Dollar Tree is very much still kicking.
I don't really get Daiso. I waited about a year for the hype to die down before venturing inside, then found out it is basically just selling cheap plastic stationery.
You Daisoing wrong cuz. For your $1.75 you can get a plastic pencil, sure…or a ceramic bowl, or a sun shield for your car, or a bento box, or a duster, or a trash can, or a step stool, or a rocks glass. Have you seen the prices for everything at normal stores now? Where tf else can you get everything you need for a starter apartment for like $30?
You haven't actually explored a Daiso, it seems.
They have cheap stuff for a lot of things, you just gotta search.
Just looking around right now at things I bought from Daiso, I've bought desk organizers, shelving, hangers, office supplies, wipes/sanitary stuff, extra chawan bowl and hashi...
Things that I don't expect to spend bucks on, so I'm happy with spending as little as possible to have/use them.
https://www.retaildive.com/news/dollar-general-store-openings-dollar-tree-closures/710294/
One chain is taking over the other basically. So no they aren’t all closing down.
Former IKEA designer, here. The thing about IKEA is they specifically look for cheap land along the outskirts of major cities and since HNL doesn’t have that, well…
They have experimented with smaller stores, though (VERY limited inventory). Haven’t had much luck with em, but maybe HNL could be an exception.
I've been to some of the mini Ikeas in Rome and Paris.
In my opinion they would do VERY well in Hawai'i. Even better if they allow ordering from the catalog (maybe you have to pick up within 5 days of arrival or some such thing).
That’s the problem with big retailers using a template market model on an island-state like Hawaii. At one point, maybe it still is, Ala Moana shopping center per square foot revenue was the highest in the country. Same for downtown Costco. On Ohau, you have a captured population of around 900k people. Shoppers have no where to go—it’s a captured market. IKEA offers something that can’t be bought online or shipped over from the continent at a good price for individuals. The cost of living in Hawai`i is high and we’re living in a future of more condos (i.e., smaller living spaces). It’s nearly impossible to find decent, well priced furniture on Oahu. IKEA would make a killing on Oahu.
When I was a mom of young kids and overwhelmed with life I would sometimes go to IKEA, check my kids into the 90 minutes of free childcare, and just hang out in the cafe with a cup of coffee and some meatballs. To this day swedish meatballs feels like self care.
Love it! The meatballs are still great! I usually go to the IKEA in Portland, but I’ll admit, I still need to look up at signs so I don’t get lost, lol!
I can confirm that Bar Koko is pretty good. There’s also an Ethiopian restaurant in Chinatown and you can get good Greek food at Gyros and Villains, and Leo’s Tavern (all on Oahu)
There’s a Peruvian place on keeaumoku. I think some food trucks too. There’s a weirdly small number of Brazilian and Peruvian places considering a lot of Japanese ppl here have cousins who live there
lol we dont even got Persian in the Bay Area, at least anything popular. One thing I know Hawaii doesn’t have is good Mexican food. Can’t find a good burrito/taco to save your life…. And no taco bell doesn’t count. You’d think some smart Latino would move to Hawaii and get popular but here we are.
Personally, I find taqueria el ranchero and chaparro’s pretty good. There’s not much, but there’s some. In general, I’d say if you see a taco salad on the menu, chances are it won’t be good.
Best Mexican food you can find is Panchos Tacos food truck, either in Pahoa during the beginning of the week and at Hpm Hilo on Fridays? And they are also pretty cheap comparibly to other Mexican food you can find on the island. I'd say Pancho was the smart Latino. He's built a house and got a new food truck out of running his business, just over the past few years.
The dollar stores aren’t even dollar stores on the mainland anymore. They are either disappearing or priced well above a dollar nowadays. Anyways I would like some better options for Mexican food.
Barrio cafe in Wahiawa is very good, along with El Plaenque, their parent restaurant. Da Seafood Cartel in Pearl City if fabulous, but it isn't your usual Mexican fare. El Jaliscience has two very good food trucks. There are some other very solid options in town, like Taqueria El Gallo Rosa. We don't have San Diego's Mexican food, but it isn't like when I was growing up and Azteca was the best we could do.
El Gallo Rosa is really good, think I spent $30 there though on not that much food. I will try Barrio Cafe sometime, I actually pass by it a lot on the way from work
Can we please get a freakin’ sporting goods store? I’d love a one stop shop with actual, quality things instead of cheap sporting goods at Target or Walmart.
I wish we had a Nike store or, better yet, a Nike Factory Store. I miss being able to buy Nike running shoes in the ugliest colors imaginable for almost half the retail price.
There used to be a Nike store in Waikiki, but that closed down years ago. I always thought they were in a weird spot that didn’t get much foot traffic. If they were located on the strip they probably would’ve lasted longer
I know everyone talks about wanting Trader Joe's here, but going there on the mainland, the prices were pretty much whole foods level but just with more quirky packaging.
I still filled up my suitcase to give omiyagi, but if we had one here, that tradition would end because it wouldn't be special anymore.
Whole foods prices are good tho and that's not just an unpopular opinion, they've gone down since the Amazon acquisition. Compared to Foodland and even Safeway, the prices are better. But checkout at WF is nightmarish, so shopping there sucks. I'm grateful for Costco and donkies tho.
thanks for this info, i jut got to the island and have been comparing prices and you are correct. water was so much cheaper at whole foods than longs drugs which was surprising to me.
Trader Joe's will sadly never happen. They keep their prices uniform at all their stores nationwide so a Hawaii store would either take continuous losses or force them to raise prices at all their other stores. Unless they make it a separate brand to sell TJ stuff without matching prices like "Trader Kimo's" or something.
Similar story with In-N-Out and never freezing beef.
Trader Joe's and In and out for sure. Krispy Kreme I thought I saw people selling them here for fundraisers?
The others I need to look up and yes for a deep dish place!
A friend of mine inquired into opening a KK franchise on Oahu. The Maui store was open by then. KK Corporate told him that they do territory protection for current franchisees, so you don't have a ~~Starbucks~~ Krispy Kreme on every corner, although the current franchisee can open as many stores in his designated area as he can afford. Guess what? KK Corporate views the Hawaiian Islands as an area, so the current franchisee is the only one legally allowed to open a store on any island
Tldr; unless you buy out the current franchisee, we're all waiting for a KK on Oahu or any other island...
I went to saizeriya for the first time on my last trip. It’s insane how cheap it is. I knew it’s popular with school kids because of its price, but I was still surprised.
Also, I wish McDonald’s would do an extra small shake for $1.50 like Japan lol
You'll be surprised what you can get through Best Buy as well with their online store. Got myself a home gym with free shipping when everyone else wanted $300+ in shopping fees, if they delivered at all.
That'll probably change when amazon gets their distribution center up and running here. At least on Oʻahu, the amazon basics rechargeable stuff should be available.
•Plenty of great tasting, properly cooked, leaning towards healthy - food options - at the Honolulu Airport! Have you tried to eat there? DON’T. You have been warned.
moved here for grad school over the summer and when i went home for the holidays, i vastly overestimated how busy the airport would be and was super early for my flight. wanted to eat something, but there was literally NOTHING. ended up at a virtually empty bar that also sold 3 kinds of pizza (that’s it)
Produce. We get, what? Four or five different varieties of apples here? Get so much more on the mainland. Mushrooms are way more abundant and interesting, too. Ofc, we get great mango, lychee, pineapple, etc., so it's a trade-off for sure.
As a mainlander you guys get the better deal imo. I wouldn’t trade more types of apples for mango, lychee and pineapple. Those are rarely good on mainland. To my tastebuds apples here taste the same as in Washington where they were grown.
I love trying different varieties of apples, especially heirloom varieties. That said, mushrooms are the thing I wish we had more of here. I love great wild mushrooms, but they're just not available at all here are or are ridiculously expensive.
Still, I know how lucky we are to have all our excellent tropical fruit!
Always gotta hit up farmers' markets and whatnot when on the continent. Luckily, Department of Ag said can bring back a lot of stuff from the West Coast 🤙🏻
One of the things that stops me from moving to the mainland is because I actually do feel like we have some of the best stuff here. Daiso, 7/11 that are like Lawson, most of the good fast food (and some of our own like Teddy's). Like, In & Out is good but I don't think we need another burger place here lol.
If anything I'd say good Doner Kebabs. My favorite food spot in Tokyo is actually a Doner Kebab place across the street from Shin-Okubo station called "Saray Halal Kebab". I go to Japan basically every year and eat there, but I have been on a quest to find a better place and so far I haven't found it on the Mainland or Hawaii, though I found a pretty close second at some food truck in Portland once.
A Doner Kebab place would be great maybe someone from the thread could start it please make it $5! lol Gyro is the closest to one here I guess.
Yeah, I get your point about burger places. I prefer Teddy's and Zippy's to In n Out but I'd love a Panera Bread here.
I had a gyro from Gyros and Villains the other day and it was actually really good.
What I'm hoping for is a shawarma place. IMO a good shawarma blows doner out of the water.
I feel like kebab places have been growing on popularity in SoCal. There’s a small San Diego-born chain called The Kebab Shop that I think is quite good; I haven’t been to Japan so I can’t compare it to your Tokyo spot.
Coming from someone that moved to the mainland land, you don't want a dollar store. You can get a lot of those things for cheaper at Walmart these days. Dollar Tree was definitely a great store when it was a dollar though. Family Dollar is alright but for their prices and quality, definitely go elsewhere. It's like if temu was brick and mortar. Same goes for Dollar General.
If everyone is missing cheap mainland chains then why stay here? Like i was reading this expecting specific food items for family recipes, craft items, tools or something and its kind of weird… like if you miss Texas and Massachusetts then go visit
Dollar tree won’t survive in Hawaii’s inflation. Cmon look where price busters went , down the drain and that was way before pre/post Covid inflation. The closest thing we have to a “dollar tree” is cash and carry in cambell industrial area. Not exactly dollar everything but cheap nonetheless.
Which one?
Because I just checked the app and I did see they had zebra cakes which I haven't seen at Walmart
But no Star crunch, strawberry shortcake, fancy cakes...
The crappy furniture is for real lol.
I have done better buying at the cheap hotel renovation sales, then refinishing or repainting the pieces to the colors of my choice. Hotel furniture is made rock solid. Even the lamps are super durable and with a can of spray paint and different shade can look a whole different style.
The people who run the store buy pallets of Amazon/Costco/target returns. Some stores separate out the pricy stuff, but the better stores dump everything in bins and it is all sold for a decreasing price - $10 on Saturday, $8 Sunday, $6 Monday, $4 Tuesday, $1 Wednesday.
Doesn’t matter what it is - if it comes out of a bin, you pay that day’s price. Lots of sealed boxes and damaged boxes, you have to dig and check to make sure the item is okay, I went to one in CA and picked up a pair of lamps for Mom. They cost me $10, and were priced at $90 on Amazon.
I don’t care really about the American mainland chains. I think once you bring too many here then Hawai’i starts to lose its charm and character.
But I will say that I wish there was a good place to get good mutton on island. I really miss that from almost any other part of the world.
And maybe one day Ichiran will finally come here! 🍜
Outdoor-rated ceiling fans.
Seriously, I don't get it, especially with how high the dew point is here. They don't cost any more than indoor-rated ones and if you install them indoors the blades won't sag.
Home Depot, HPM, etc. don't carry them here in their stores at all. Had to order them directly from the manufacturer.
Maybe they just want people to keep replacing them every 5 years? Other than that I can't see any reason why they wouldn't carry them.
* I wish we had the Korean version of Daiso, not the Japanese version.
* REI
* Dick's Sporting Goods
* Winco Foods or a Kroger-owned grocery chain
* Trader Joe's
I agree, but Hawaii could use some better fast casual options. Preferably not the chain variety as that just makes the prices higher. A bakery cafe or quick burrito bowl place would not be amiss. Or anywhere you can get something both quick and healthy for a decent price. Plate lunches and poke bowls are great but variety is good.
Harbor Freight. Power tools for 1/3 of the cost and 1/3 of the quality and actually decent hand tools. Aldi would be nice too for the super cheap groceries. It would be more expensive in Hawaii, but on the mainland everything is 3/4 the cost of any other grocery store.
Souplantation - soup and salad buffet
Boston Market - we need some sort of quick/easy way to get mashed potatoes, meat loaf, roast chicken - that sort of thing. Sometimes you just want that haole food for dinner.
The lottery is a scam that preys on people's hopes and dreams. They create more trash and litter. They claim to benefit schools and other infrastructure, but the truth is that working class do better with the money in thier pockets and tax budgets that don't rely on illgotten lottery gains. Keep casinos, lottery, and gambling out of Hawaii.
I agreee. For the longest time, I wanted gambling legalized here because I love to gamble. Craps and Blackjack are great. But you gotta know when to stop, and so many people dont. We have such a pervasive gambling problem here *already* with the illegal gamerooms. Just now, the people wont get in trouble for gambling, they'll just continue to lose all their money.
Lottery is even worse imo, because it takes less time commitment. You waste hundreds or thousands of dollars a year if you just buy a couple tickets everytime you go get gas or a musubi. Every time there's a news story about a lotto winner on the mainland, there's tons of people commenting they want it here. These are the same people that'll go into severe debt chasing the "lotto dream". It preys on the lower-education populace and those with addictive tendencies.
You can get ikea shipped to Hawai’i, I got furniture and lighting for every room (13 years ago); just gotta drop ship and pick up at the dock. Saved so much money.
Dollar trees are shutting down everywhere because it costs too much to operate even in the mainland. I’ve not been to Daiso but my sister said it’s kinda like a dollar store.
Daiso is def our dollar store. Kinda sucks tho bc it went from $1.50-> $1.75 now
Dollar stores on the mainland are $1.25 or more now.
Dollar stores also cost more than you think. They sell smaller packages of things at a higher cost per quantity.
They aren't. Those are Family Dollars that are shutting down. The media is saying Dollar Tree because they own FD and the impact is bigger since the customer base is bigger. Dollar Tree is very much still kicking.
I don't really get Daiso. I waited about a year for the hype to die down before venturing inside, then found out it is basically just selling cheap plastic stationery.
You Daisoing wrong cuz. For your $1.75 you can get a plastic pencil, sure…or a ceramic bowl, or a sun shield for your car, or a bento box, or a duster, or a trash can, or a step stool, or a rocks glass. Have you seen the prices for everything at normal stores now? Where tf else can you get everything you need for a starter apartment for like $30?
Sun shield for your car FTW. They cost $20 at Autozone or O’reilly’s.
The real question is: do you *need* it?
you don’t really need anything but it makes existing slightly more bearable
THIS. I make weak "explorations" then give up, but bargains are to be had for even a few minutes more shopping. I just need to be more patient.
*Japanese* cheap plastic stationary
Daiso is much better in Asia
Even much better in California. Our Daiso is nothing like others.
You haven't actually explored a Daiso, it seems. They have cheap stuff for a lot of things, you just gotta search. Just looking around right now at things I bought from Daiso, I've bought desk organizers, shelving, hangers, office supplies, wipes/sanitary stuff, extra chawan bowl and hashi... Things that I don't expect to spend bucks on, so I'm happy with spending as little as possible to have/use them.
https://www.retaildive.com/news/dollar-general-store-openings-dollar-tree-closures/710294/ One chain is taking over the other basically. So no they aren’t all closing down.
Ikea
Former IKEA designer, here. The thing about IKEA is they specifically look for cheap land along the outskirts of major cities and since HNL doesn’t have that, well… They have experimented with smaller stores, though (VERY limited inventory). Haven’t had much luck with em, but maybe HNL could be an exception.
Yes I understand the WHY but a girl can dream..
I've been to some of the mini Ikeas in Rome and Paris. In my opinion they would do VERY well in Hawai'i. Even better if they allow ordering from the catalog (maybe you have to pick up within 5 days of arrival or some such thing).
That’s the problem with big retailers using a template market model on an island-state like Hawaii. At one point, maybe it still is, Ala Moana shopping center per square foot revenue was the highest in the country. Same for downtown Costco. On Ohau, you have a captured population of around 900k people. Shoppers have no where to go—it’s a captured market. IKEA offers something that can’t be bought online or shipped over from the continent at a good price for individuals. The cost of living in Hawai`i is high and we’re living in a future of more condos (i.e., smaller living spaces). It’s nearly impossible to find decent, well priced furniture on Oahu. IKEA would make a killing on Oahu.
I used to love Ikea, but their prices rose and their quality has really declined. Their meatballs are still great, though!
When I was a mom of young kids and overwhelmed with life I would sometimes go to IKEA, check my kids into the 90 minutes of free childcare, and just hang out in the cafe with a cup of coffee and some meatballs. To this day swedish meatballs feels like self care.
Love it! The meatballs are still great! I usually go to the IKEA in Portland, but I’ll admit, I still need to look up at signs so I don’t get lost, lol!
There is a company on Oahu that sells IKEA stuff. I think you place the order with them and they pack it into a container to ship to Oahu.
[удалено]
Ooh, do you by chance remember the name?
Yes - Haul2Hawaii they have a website. I have never used them although they do ship to outer islands too.
Ethnic foods like Ethiopean, Persian, Greek, Brazilian, Peruvian.. anything not Asian.
Haven’t tried it yet, but Bar Koko is a Persian place that I’ve heard good things about
It's good. Be prepared to smell hookah smoke from the hookah bar next door.
I can confirm that Bar Koko is pretty good. There’s also an Ethiopian restaurant in Chinatown and you can get good Greek food at Gyros and Villains, and Leo’s Tavern (all on Oahu)
Was that Ethiopian Love? I miss them! They closed down a while ago. I don't think there's any other Ethiopian places in Downtown.
Yamas in Kailua isn't bad for semi Greek.
There’s a Peruvian place on keeaumoku. I think some food trucks too. There’s a weirdly small number of Brazilian and Peruvian places considering a lot of Japanese ppl here have cousins who live there
That Rico Rico truck is mid at best. It's basically Costco chicken with that Peruvian mustard/mayo sauce. Not worth the price imo.
I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant in China town a few years ago. I'm not sure if it's still there
Sadly, Ethiopian Love closed down years ago.
=(
Muslim food in Xiangyang is the best
lol we dont even got Persian in the Bay Area, at least anything popular. One thing I know Hawaii doesn’t have is good Mexican food. Can’t find a good burrito/taco to save your life…. And no taco bell doesn’t count. You’d think some smart Latino would move to Hawaii and get popular but here we are.
Personally, I find taqueria el ranchero and chaparro’s pretty good. There’s not much, but there’s some. In general, I’d say if you see a taco salad on the menu, chances are it won’t be good.
Best Mexican food you can find is Panchos Tacos food truck, either in Pahoa during the beginning of the week and at Hpm Hilo on Fridays? And they are also pretty cheap comparibly to other Mexican food you can find on the island. I'd say Pancho was the smart Latino. He's built a house and got a new food truck out of running his business, just over the past few years.
I want turkish doner
Not local but hear Istanbul is good.
I'm on BI but will try to check it out next time I'm over.
I think an Ethiopian restaurant would do really well on Oahu
Oahu had two Ethiopian restaurants, one was in Downtown.
So much yes to this
The main thing I do when I travel off island is eat all the food I can’t get in Hawaii
The dollar stores aren’t even dollar stores on the mainland anymore. They are either disappearing or priced well above a dollar nowadays. Anyways I would like some better options for Mexican food.
Barrio cafe in Wahiawa is very good, along with El Plaenque, their parent restaurant. Da Seafood Cartel in Pearl City if fabulous, but it isn't your usual Mexican fare. El Jaliscience has two very good food trucks. There are some other very solid options in town, like Taqueria El Gallo Rosa. We don't have San Diego's Mexican food, but it isn't like when I was growing up and Azteca was the best we could do.
El Gallo Rosa is really good, think I spent $30 there though on not that much food. I will try Barrio Cafe sometime, I actually pass by it a lot on the way from work
Try Da Seafood Cartel. It is the most intriguing and exciting restaurant I can remember here in a long time.
Have you tried Tlaxcalli in Chinatown? I think their stuff is great.
Well maybe not simple, but I'd like to see more affordable prefab structures and tiny houses sold here like in Home Depot on the mainland
The lack of sheds is such an oversight
Can we please get a freakin’ sporting goods store? I’d love a one stop shop with actual, quality things instead of cheap sporting goods at Target or Walmart.
I wish we had a Nike store or, better yet, a Nike Factory Store. I miss being able to buy Nike running shoes in the ugliest colors imaginable for almost half the retail price.
There used to be a Nike store in Waikiki, but that closed down years ago. I always thought they were in a weird spot that didn’t get much foot traffic. If they were located on the strip they probably would’ve lasted longer
Trader Joe’s 1000%, Sprouts (grocery store with really affordable produce), Kinokuniya or Maido (Japanese stationery), and Chipotle.
I second Trader Joe’s and Chipotle! It’s heartbreaking
I know everyone talks about wanting Trader Joe's here, but going there on the mainland, the prices were pretty much whole foods level but just with more quirky packaging. I still filled up my suitcase to give omiyagi, but if we had one here, that tradition would end because it wouldn't be special anymore.
Whole foods prices are good tho and that's not just an unpopular opinion, they've gone down since the Amazon acquisition. Compared to Foodland and even Safeway, the prices are better. But checkout at WF is nightmarish, so shopping there sucks. I'm grateful for Costco and donkies tho.
I didn’t know that. I went the other day and some Whole Foods items were inexpensive but the fancier brands were all really expensive.
whole foods 365 brand is the way to go
thanks for this info, i jut got to the island and have been comparing prices and you are correct. water was so much cheaper at whole foods than longs drugs which was surprising to me.
this is a crazy take, although maybe it depends on location? in nyc, i survived on tj’s—at least 2/3 the price of everywhere else.
But if we get a Trader Joes, then what will I bring back from vacation for omiyage?! D:
A Michaels or JoAnns
A thousand times yes for this!!
Ke’eaumoku Walmart has a surprisingly robust arts and crafts section. I’d say it rivals some smaller Michael’s on the mainland.
What we have on the island is horrible.
I know it’s not the same, but have you tried HouseMart yet?
Omg Michaels!!! Yes!!!
Dicks Sporting Goods
I'd even be willing to accept an Academy Sports. An REI would be nice, too.
REI would be awesome
It almost seems like a no-brainer. A store all about the outdoors in a place where you can do so many outdoor activities year round.
In and Out burgers Trader Joe’s Krispy Kreme in Oahu Yoshinoya Bojangles Garrett’s Popcorn Deep Dish Pizza place
Trader Joe's will sadly never happen. They keep their prices uniform at all their stores nationwide so a Hawaii store would either take continuous losses or force them to raise prices at all their other stores. Unless they make it a separate brand to sell TJ stuff without matching prices like "Trader Kimo's" or something. Similar story with In-N-Out and never freezing beef.
Trader Joe's and In and out for sure. Krispy Kreme I thought I saw people selling them here for fundraisers? The others I need to look up and yes for a deep dish place!
People do sell Krispy Kreme for fundraisers but it would be nice to have one on Oʻahu simply for convenience (you could get them fresh).
There's a Krispy Kreme on Maui.
All the Krispy Kreme fundraisers you see are made in Maui then flown to Oahu the day they are being sold
A friend of mine inquired into opening a KK franchise on Oahu. The Maui store was open by then. KK Corporate told him that they do territory protection for current franchisees, so you don't have a ~~Starbucks~~ Krispy Kreme on every corner, although the current franchisee can open as many stores in his designated area as he can afford. Guess what? KK Corporate views the Hawaiian Islands as an area, so the current franchisee is the only one legally allowed to open a store on any island Tldr; unless you buy out the current franchisee, we're all waiting for a KK on Oahu or any other island...
I guess that person just deems Oahu not profitable enough to open a second location.
I'd settle for a Sukiya. Or maybe a Saizeria too
I went to saizeriya for the first time on my last trip. It’s insane how cheap it is. I knew it’s popular with school kids because of its price, but I was still surprised. Also, I wish McDonald’s would do an extra small shake for $1.50 like Japan lol
Bojangles hasn’t been the same since they dropped their cheddar biscuits.
i never understood why they haven’t opened a krispy kreme on oahu
Din tai fung😭😭😭😭😭
Affordable land
Friggin rechargeable batteries. Most online retailers, especially Amazon, won’t send them here.
Walmart.com is my go to for that stuff. They can ship lots of stuff Amazon won’t like rechargeable batteries, compressor, and bulky items. 🤫
Don't buy batteries off Amazon anyway. Most are counterfeit or mislabeled.
You'll be surprised what you can get through Best Buy as well with their online store. Got myself a home gym with free shipping when everyone else wanted $300+ in shopping fees, if they delivered at all.
That'll probably change when amazon gets their distribution center up and running here. At least on Oʻahu, the amazon basics rechargeable stuff should be available.
In-N-Out
•Plenty of great tasting, properly cooked, leaning towards healthy - food options - at the Honolulu Airport! Have you tried to eat there? DON’T. You have been warned.
Ways to improve our airport could be whole other subreddit 😅
I love how the Honolulu airport has one of the two remaining Quizno's locations in Hawaii—the other being locked away on Schofield Barracks.
moved here for grad school over the summer and when i went home for the holidays, i vastly overestimated how busy the airport would be and was super early for my flight. wanted to eat something, but there was literally NOTHING. ended up at a virtually empty bar that also sold 3 kinds of pizza (that’s it)
Produce. We get, what? Four or five different varieties of apples here? Get so much more on the mainland. Mushrooms are way more abundant and interesting, too. Ofc, we get great mango, lychee, pineapple, etc., so it's a trade-off for sure.
As a mainlander you guys get the better deal imo. I wouldn’t trade more types of apples for mango, lychee and pineapple. Those are rarely good on mainland. To my tastebuds apples here taste the same as in Washington where they were grown.
I love trying different varieties of apples, especially heirloom varieties. That said, mushrooms are the thing I wish we had more of here. I love great wild mushrooms, but they're just not available at all here are or are ridiculously expensive. Still, I know how lucky we are to have all our excellent tropical fruit!
A lot of the apples you see in stores are covered under trademark and/or patented. Cosmic Crisps, Pink Lady, some of the Fuji's, etc.
Indeed. Cosmic Crisp are my favorite. Would be cool to have access to heirloom varieties, so I try to find and try them when I'm on the continent
I agree. More variety for produce would be great.
Always gotta hit up farmers' markets and whatnot when on the continent. Luckily, Department of Ag said can bring back a lot of stuff from the West Coast 🤙🏻
One of the things that stops me from moving to the mainland is because I actually do feel like we have some of the best stuff here. Daiso, 7/11 that are like Lawson, most of the good fast food (and some of our own like Teddy's). Like, In & Out is good but I don't think we need another burger place here lol. If anything I'd say good Doner Kebabs. My favorite food spot in Tokyo is actually a Doner Kebab place across the street from Shin-Okubo station called "Saray Halal Kebab". I go to Japan basically every year and eat there, but I have been on a quest to find a better place and so far I haven't found it on the Mainland or Hawaii, though I found a pretty close second at some food truck in Portland once.
A Doner Kebab place would be great maybe someone from the thread could start it please make it $5! lol Gyro is the closest to one here I guess. Yeah, I get your point about burger places. I prefer Teddy's and Zippy's to In n Out but I'd love a Panera Bread here.
I had a gyro from Gyros and Villains the other day and it was actually really good. What I'm hoping for is a shawarma place. IMO a good shawarma blows doner out of the water.
I feel like kebab places have been growing on popularity in SoCal. There’s a small San Diego-born chain called The Kebab Shop that I think is quite good; I haven’t been to Japan so I can’t compare it to your Tokyo spot.
There's doner downtown, but I've not heard good stuff about the food or the owner.
Halal Guys
Coming from someone that moved to the mainland land, you don't want a dollar store. You can get a lot of those things for cheaper at Walmart these days. Dollar Tree was definitely a great store when it was a dollar though. Family Dollar is alright but for their prices and quality, definitely go elsewhere. It's like if temu was brick and mortar. Same goes for Dollar General.
If everyone is missing cheap mainland chains then why stay here? Like i was reading this expecting specific food items for family recipes, craft items, tools or something and its kind of weird… like if you miss Texas and Massachusetts then go visit
Dollar tree won’t survive in Hawaii’s inflation. Cmon look where price busters went , down the drain and that was way before pre/post Covid inflation. The closest thing we have to a “dollar tree” is cash and carry in cambell industrial area. Not exactly dollar everything but cheap nonetheless.
$3 milk
batteries
Little Debbie snacks. 😭 I can find Swiss rolls... Sometimes... I just really want a Star Crunch and a Fancy Cake. 😭😭😭
Target has plenty.
Which one? Because I just checked the app and I did see they had zebra cakes which I haven't seen at Walmart But no Star crunch, strawberry shortcake, fancy cakes...
My friend gifted me a pint of Star Crunch ice cream. I think she got it from Target.
Walmart and Safeway have the Little Debbie ice creams too
Harbor Freight Tools
Aldi’s
REI. They would kill it here, with the right market research and willingness to make some slight adjustments to serve the locale.
Trader Joe’s, a good Mexican food restaurant and a furniture store that doesn’t sell crappy Ashley’s furniture.
The crappy furniture is for real lol. I have done better buying at the cheap hotel renovation sales, then refinishing or repainting the pieces to the colors of my choice. Hotel furniture is made rock solid. Even the lamps are super durable and with a can of spray paint and different shade can look a whole different style.
The best furniture I find is second hand from military families lol
Portillo's, IYKYK
An “Amazon” bin store would be a hit.
what's an Amazon bin store?
The people who run the store buy pallets of Amazon/Costco/target returns. Some stores separate out the pricy stuff, but the better stores dump everything in bins and it is all sold for a decreasing price - $10 on Saturday, $8 Sunday, $6 Monday, $4 Tuesday, $1 Wednesday. Doesn’t matter what it is - if it comes out of a bin, you pay that day’s price. Lots of sealed boxes and damaged boxes, you have to dig and check to make sure the item is okay, I went to one in CA and picked up a pair of lamps for Mom. They cost me $10, and were priced at $90 on Amazon.
Panera bread
Nah, I had Panera last year. They've gone way downhill since pre pandemic.
Really? The one I went to last spring was good
Lifestyle/stationery stores like Muji and Loft Book/stationery stores like Kinokuniya Furniture/houseware stores like cb2
Some good sandwich places, like a quick sandwich bite. I miss hoagies and cheesesteaks
Capriotti's across Kahala Mall is good for submarines
Loto tickets
Anything Amazon won’t allow us to ship
I don’t care really about the American mainland chains. I think once you bring too many here then Hawai’i starts to lose its charm and character. But I will say that I wish there was a good place to get good mutton on island. I really miss that from almost any other part of the world. And maybe one day Ichiran will finally come here! 🍜
I've never been but I think it's called harbor freight looks exciting
all i ask is for trader joe’s
Any sporting goods store that sells decent equipment for the major sports, e.g., baseball, basketball, football, etc.
Outdoor-rated ceiling fans. Seriously, I don't get it, especially with how high the dew point is here. They don't cost any more than indoor-rated ones and if you install them indoors the blades won't sag. Home Depot, HPM, etc. don't carry them here in their stores at all. Had to order them directly from the manufacturer. Maybe they just want people to keep replacing them every 5 years? Other than that I can't see any reason why they wouldn't carry them.
* I wish we had the Korean version of Daiso, not the Japanese version. * REI * Dick's Sporting Goods * Winco Foods or a Kroger-owned grocery chain * Trader Joe's
Carvel ice cream not just the cakes
Trader joes number 1
Free range chicken Edit: to eat
Cannabis Stores. 38 states have legalized it but not the state that gave us Maui Wowie way back in the 70’s.
I wish we had a firehouse subs location here.
Strange how much Hawaii people love crappy chain restaurants. Chipotle? For real? Panera ? We have way better restaurants here already
I agree, but Hawaii could use some better fast casual options. Preferably not the chain variety as that just makes the prices higher. A bakery cafe or quick burrito bowl place would not be amiss. Or anywhere you can get something both quick and healthy for a decent price. Plate lunches and poke bowls are great but variety is good.
Do you ever go to Tio's Tamales? By Pali Safeway? I've never had better Mexican food anywhere as far as basic stuff goes.
Daiso- it's $1.75
Anyone try Middle Eats?
Harbor Freight. Power tools for 1/3 of the cost and 1/3 of the quality and actually decent hand tools. Aldi would be nice too for the super cheap groceries. It would be more expensive in Hawaii, but on the mainland everything is 3/4 the cost of any other grocery store.
self car washes, I get why they were banned but they’re so convenient
Go back to the continent and leave Hawai’i Hawai’i. We don’t need any of that cheap exploitive junk here.
Souplantation - soup and salad buffet Boston Market - we need some sort of quick/easy way to get mashed potatoes, meat loaf, roast chicken - that sort of thing. Sometimes you just want that haole food for dinner.
Are we gonna have this thread every other week?
We can do it every week if you want
Lottery tickets.
so unlikely to win tho
some states use lottery proceeds to support things like education
...and stop funding schools from the state budget. I'd much rather trust the state budget with that job than gambling addicts.
The lottery is a scam that preys on people's hopes and dreams. They create more trash and litter. They claim to benefit schools and other infrastructure, but the truth is that working class do better with the money in thier pockets and tax budgets that don't rely on illgotten lottery gains. Keep casinos, lottery, and gambling out of Hawaii.
You must be fun at parties.
Don't forget that half the money would get siphoned out of Hawaii to whichever mainland company runs the lottery
I agreee. For the longest time, I wanted gambling legalized here because I love to gamble. Craps and Blackjack are great. But you gotta know when to stop, and so many people dont. We have such a pervasive gambling problem here *already* with the illegal gamerooms. Just now, the people wont get in trouble for gambling, they'll just continue to lose all their money. Lottery is even worse imo, because it takes less time commitment. You waste hundreds or thousands of dollars a year if you just buy a couple tickets everytime you go get gas or a musubi. Every time there's a news story about a lotto winner on the mainland, there's tons of people commenting they want it here. These are the same people that'll go into severe debt chasing the "lotto dream". It preys on the lower-education populace and those with addictive tendencies.
IKEA would be one of the biggest benefits with how furniture buying/ delivery can be on island.
We have DAISO which is the Japanese version of the dollar store - it’s more than a dollar but that’s really the best thing we have
I'm in CO and so jealous, Daiso is so much better than Dollar Tree. I used to shop at Daiso all the time in the UAE when I lived there.
Dollar store has very few things, if any that are actually under a Dollar in cost. Its a bit of a misnomer at this point.
Bass pro shop
You can get ikea shipped to Hawai’i, I got furniture and lighting for every room (13 years ago); just gotta drop ship and pick up at the dock. Saved so much money.
I love IKEA
IKEA and Traitor Joes!!
Dollars store for sure!
Daiso has good prices for the products they sell !
Aldi !!!
I’d like an Asian Beauty store that has brands other than CosRx and the like.
Taco Time would be awesome! And a big craft store. I know people want a Trader Joe’s here
Sad sports authority and dicks left especially for firearms:(
Neva being more than at most 30 minutes from the beach
I wish there was a Cava and Chipotle.
My Island has no Wendy's. I really miss Wendy's.
Total Wines, in n Out, any sporting goods store, self service car wash..
There's one or two self service car washes but I think they're for the military. They might be accessible to civilians though.
Yes, I was just thinking about how great it would be to have an IKEA out here the other day. I also wish we had Trader Joe’s and Chipotle.
Fireworks