Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Samantha Thavasa Hawaii

Samantha Thavasa recently opened a store location at Ala Moana (Honolulu, HI) on April 25, 2014. If I wasn't working that day, I probably would have tried to go lol. Instead, I settled on going the day after (which was a Saturday).
The store is located where Q-Pot used to be on the Mall Level near Shirokiya and Macy's. (The new Kate Spade Saturday store is also nearby!)

Tbh, I didn't want to be too obvious with my photo taking because I didn't want to get in people's way while trying to organize the shot (the mall level is quite busy), and also because I just didn't want to call attention to myself. Anyway, some of the pictures are not quite centered or 100% clear and I didn't get as many as I would have liked (tbh most of the super cute stuff isn't pictured here), but I hope you can still get the idea!



This Samantha Thavasa logo wallpaper can be seen as an accent throughout the store




They also have clothing and a few travel items. There's also some golf stuff!

And some of the home line with monogrammed mugs, etc.

One of the grand opening bouquets. It fit in really well with the theme of the store.

There was also some bags and accessories specific to the Hawaii store. It's mostly bright, pure, kind of primary colors which I'm not personally super interested in personally. They do still have a lot of the pastels - baby pink, blue, mint - that I'm used to seeing though so I'm happy about that!
One of the shop staff noticed that I was carrying my own Samantha Thavasa bag that my friend bought for me in Japan last summer and commented that the Hawaii store's prices are actually a little cheaper than the prices in Japan! I was thinking that it would be the opposite, but apparently not. The prices are not exponentially cheaper, but just the fact that there's no huge mark up is great imo!

I wasn't planning on buying anything (reminding myself here **because I'm trying to SAVE**) but my mother remembered that we needed to get a gift for my brother's girlfriend so we did end up getting something!

The shop staff wrapped up the purchase nicely. Tbh, they didn't seem super organized (the entire process took around 15 minutes for some reason), but seeing as that it was their second day being open, I'm willing to cut them a little slack. One thing I didn't like was that they didn't have their computers set up and were only accepting cash payments. We didn't learn this until right when we were getting rung up and since many of the items in the store are a substantial amount (most around $100-200), I feel like we should have been given some sort of slight warning beforehand. I'm thinking that they may have already resolved this problem, but tbh I was really thrown off by this and the way the shop staff handled it. If I didn't already like this brand, I'm not sure I would go back after this particular experience. I don't really like paying this kind of price for that kind of service.
We couldn't decide between a couple different colors, but in the end, I was really fond of the white wallet despite the fact that it might get dirty.
I didn't snap too many different pictures because I didn't want to handle it too much, but it's a great wallet with lots and lots of pockets and slots for cards. Also made of super great. quality leather and super cute!
Since we spent $200, we also got this little purse charm as a free gift! It's like a mini version of a number of the Samantha Thavasa bags. The little lock even has "ST" on it!

I'm so happy that we now have a Samantha Thavasa store here (and that it's not in Waikiki)! I hope the computer problem has been resolved by now/will be resolved by the next time I go and that the shop staff will be more familiar with the store and its policies. Although I don't see myself buying something from here every month, it'll be great for when I want to splurge and get some new accessories! I don't know if that'll be any time soon since I already have a pretty new Samantha Thavasa bag, and I'm going on a trip soon wtf, but maybe for my birthday or Christmas! Lol.


Samantha Thavasa Hawaii
Ala Moana Center
1450 Ala Moana Blvd,
Honolulu, Hawaii

Official website
Facebook

4 comments:

  1. The flowers are soooo pretty! The mugs look cute - do all Samantha Thavasa have mugs now or is that a Hawaii only thing? And the bag is so niiiiiiccceee! *The shop bag, with the pink stripes!!* Reminds me of a candy shop!!

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    1. Hmm I don't think the mugs are HI limited, but maybe not ALL stores have them?

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