Oahu does have one big outlet mall called Waikele Premium Outlets, but not many of the brands there appealed to me (to be blunt, I just was not that interested in a brand called Coach), and it is far enough that going there would eat up a whole day, so I decided to drop by an outlet closer in instead.

A photo taken in front of Nordstrom Rack

It is in a place called Ward Center, about 500 meters from Ala Moana Center. Ala Moana itself is huge, and this is on the opposite side from the bus stop, so it was quite a walk. It sits in a spot where you would never expect to find anything like an outlet nearby. Nordstrom Rack is the dedicated outlet of the Nordstrom department store in Ala Moana. In other words, it is where they clear out stock meant for a high-end department store. No wonder the goods are good. Prices are probably higher than at Waikele, but once I actually shopped there I found a lot of things I really liked. I do not know brands well, so I went for the mainstream ones, but from what I hear there are also plenty of the latest trendy brands that sell for high prices in Japanese department stores.

Nordstrom Rack and T.J. Maxx

I was told it had only been built a month earlier. It is not big enough to really call an outlet mall, but it was packed with good stuff. T.J. Maxx is an outlet too, but this one is a bit cheaper and has more of a locals-oriented feel. Prices are lower than at Nordstrom Rack, but clothes in Asian sizes were hard to even come across.

Ward Centre is across the street

Ward Centre also has a surprising number of interesting shops, but compared with Ala Moana there were far fewer people. It is hard to get here on foot from Ala Moana, so unless you are a local with a car it is probably a hard place to reach.

There are places like this too..

There were so many branches of Genki Sushi and this place.

The street in front of Ward Centre

If you keep going along this road, you reach Ala Moana and then Waikiki. The walk is a bit of a hassle, but if you like shopping, I would recommend a visit at least once.

Stopped by Ala Moana Center for a fried chicken lunch..

I did one more lap of Ala Moana wondering if there was anything worth buying, but there was not much. Without a sale, the prices are not that different from Japan. Instead I bought a big pile of gifts to hand out to friends.

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