# International Market Place Status



## california-bighorn (Dec 30, 2013)

I've read the International Market Place will close soon, be demolished and replaced with a high scale shopping center.  Does anyone know the date it closes?  We will be there in January and my wife is hoping for one more spin around the shops.  I'll miss the nightly entertainment in the food court.


----------



## PassionForTravel (Dec 30, 2013)

All the tenants had vacate orders for before Christmas 2013. They were giving extensions for hardship cases till Christmas so it will be gone by the time you are there. We were there right after thanksgiving and it was a shell of its former self.

Ian


----------



## rhonda (Dec 30, 2013)

california-bighorn said:


> I've read the International Market Place will close soon, be demolished and replaced with a high scale shopping center.


  {Dislike}


----------



## simpsontruckdriver (Jan 2, 2014)

*Waikiki's International Market*

Waikiki's International Market is closing.

TS


----------



## JanT (Jan 2, 2014)

This is so sad!!!  I loved that place!!  I didn't realize it was closing although I knew there was talk of it.  We are taking our adult daughters to Oahu for their first ever trip this year - I'm sad they won't get to see the market.


----------



## AKE (Jan 7, 2014)

Its long overdue for an overhaul.  The first time we were there was almost 40 years ago and then it was a true marketplace where you could buy everything.  Today almost every vendor sells the same 'made in china' imitation souvenirs (i.e. junk) and coupled with the worn and decaying buildings themselves, the luster is long gone from the place.


----------



## DaveNV (Jan 7, 2014)

AKE said:


> Its long overdue for an overhaul.  The first time we were there was almost 40 years ago and then it was a true marketplace where you could buy everything.  Today almost every vendor sells the same 'made in china' imitation souvenirs (i.e. junk) and coupled with the worn and decaying buildings themselves, the luster is long gone from the place.




I completely agree. I had raved about the place to friends traveling with us for their first time to Oahu. Then we got there, and it was nothing like I remembered it. (I hadn't been in the place for a long time.)  All I saw was the same crappy stalls selling the same crappy junk. I don't think we bought anything. Seriously disappointing.

Snippets of memories... Back in the day, (late 60's, when I was in high school on Oahu) it was where I bought my first Crazy Shirt t-shirt. It was where I took a tourist girl I met at the Honolulu Zoo to experience her first teriyaki hamburger. It was where I bought woven flip-flop Hawaiian "slippahs." It was where my parents took every relative who came to visit us (and get a cheap vacation) so they could experience the fun of the place.  

Sad to think it'll all be gone, but my memories will live on. 

Dave


----------



## artringwald (Mar 7, 2014)

*Demolition at International Market Place*

Demolition started:

http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii/24808808


----------



## Fern Modena (Mar 7, 2014)

So sad


----------



## Kona Lovers (Mar 8, 2014)

It is sad. They could have made adjustments to improve it and left it pretty much as is.  But it's all about the money and the catering to the big bucks spenders.  DW said we might as well go to other islands instead.


----------



## SmithOp (Mar 9, 2014)

We go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, it's all the same stuff.

http://www.alohastadiumswapmeet.net/


----------



## wise one (Mar 9, 2014)

SmithOp said:


> We go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, it's all the same stuff.
> 
> http://www.alohastadiumswapmeet.net/





Yes, it may be all the same stuff, but you could not walk there from your hotel in Waikiki.


----------



## Kona Lovers (Mar 9, 2014)

wise one said:


> Yes, it may be all the same stuff, but you could not walk there from your hotel in Waikiki.



Plus, who usually goes on vacation to go to swap meets?


----------



## alwysonvac (Aug 25, 2016)

*Grand Opening Weekend*

KHON2 News Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3geKR38LC2A

Grand Opening Specials  - http://www.shopinternationalmarketplace.com/grandopening


OLD INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE





NEW INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE


----------



## Luanne (Aug 25, 2016)

alwysonvac said:


> KHON2 News Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3geKR38LC2A
> 
> Grand Opening Specials  - http://www.shopinternationalmarketplace.com/grandopening
> 
> ...



Sad.  I don't go to Hawaii to shop at Saks.


----------



## SmithOp (Aug 25, 2016)

Thanks for posting this even though some people cant help being seagulls.


Sent from my iPad Mini 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## raygo123 (Aug 25, 2016)

For me it's sad.  If anyone went there years ago, it looks well, different.  Like the way I felt after they turned underground Atlanta into, well the bar where old red played the piano, the last time I was there was a 1 hour photo shop.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## LisaRex (Aug 27, 2016)

I think we can blame the stagnant Japanese economy for the new International Market Place.  Designer clothing/goods prices in Hawaii are to Japanese tourists what liquor prices in the Caribbean are to American tourists. The prices are so low compared to what you pay at home that you feel like a kid at Christmas!

When I was in Oahu in December, I felt like a minority among the throngs of Asian tourists, all walking around with shopping bags from stores that I couldn't afford to shop in, and stopping every few feet to take videos/photos on their iPhones.  They seemed absolutely enchanted with Oahu. 

We also met a man in our hotel elevator who had a (literal) cart full of huge Godiva chocolate boxes.  I still wonder what he was going to do with them.  Put them in guest rooms as party favors for his daughter's wedding (there are a TON of weddings at Hilton Hawaiian Village)? Ship them home? Eat them?  

Anyway, while I'D never go to Hawaii to go clothes shopping, I understand the appeal for people who already live on an island in the Pacific.  I also understand the sadness of seeing iconic landmarks go the way of the bulldozer.


----------



## artringwald (Aug 27, 2016)

It really is sad to see the "Aloha" sign at the entrance replaced with "Saks Fifth Avenue". That alone says much about the atmosphere of the new place. I am happy to see that the banyan tree looks healthy.


----------



## alwysonvac (Aug 27, 2016)

LisaRex said:


> I think we can blame the stagnant Japanese economy for the new International Market Place.  Designer clothing/goods prices in Hawaii are to Japanese tourists what liquor prices in the Caribbean are to American tourists. The prices are so low compared to what you pay at home that you feel like a kid at Christmas!



Yes, Americans aren't the target audience.
Does anyone know where the vendors went?


----------



## Luanne (Aug 27, 2016)

alwysonvac said:


> Yes, Americans aren't the target audience.



That was pretty apparent when we visited Honolulu March 2015.  I hadn't been there in quite a few years and was shocked at how much it had changed.  High end stores lined the main street and you couldn't even see the ocean from the street.

Yes, to me, it's very sad.


----------



## linsj (Aug 27, 2016)

alwysonvac said:


> Does anyone know where the vendors went?



Many of them are in a corridor called Duke's Lane/Duke's Marketplace next to the Holiday Inn and only a block from the International Marketplace.


----------



## taffy19 (Aug 27, 2016)

artringwald said:


> It really is sad to see the "Aloha" sign at the entrance replaced with "Saks Fifth Avenue". That alone says much about the atmosphere of the new place. I am happy to see that the banyan tree looks healthy.


Thank goodness that they left the Banyan tree!

It is true that shopping is a bargain for the Japanese.  We met a lady once with her daughter and she told us that they go shopping twice a year in Honolulu as that is cheaper than buying these products at home plus they have a free vacation.


----------



## alwysonvac (Aug 28, 2016)

linsj said:


> Many of them are in a corridor called Duke's Lane/Duke's Marketplace next to the Holiday Inn and only a block from the International Marketplace.



Thanks Linsj


----------



## TEK224 (Sep 3, 2016)

*Sad*

I just returned from Oahu and was sad to see the difference in the Marketplace.
When I walked in and saw the Christian Loubitin store, I knew the place wasn't for me. I miss the atmosphere from the old Marketplace.
I went to the Made in Hawaii festival and the Aloha Stadium flea market to purchase items from local merchants. I think everything I bought during my trip, except 1 or 2 things, was made in Hawaii.


----------



## artringwald (Feb 1, 2017)

Just went through the new place. The new one doesn't have the same charm, but it is nicer than I thought it would be, and they didn't seem to harm the banyan tree. Here's about 30 pictures:

https://artringwald.smugmug.com/Travel/Waikiki-International-Market-Place/


----------



## clifffaith (Feb 2, 2017)

linsj said:


> Many of them are in a corridor called Duke's Lane/Duke's Marketplace next to the Holiday Inn and only a block from the International Marketplace.


Wish we'd seen this last week. We asked where the booths had gone and were told they were gone (including asking a bus tour guide). We were last in Waikiki Jan. 2015 and the Marketplace was quite reduced in size, but there were still plenty of tchotchkes to be had. We were sad this time to see it vanish and are bummed that we missed Duke's Lane. We'd had a $225 meal at Hy's Steakhouse one evening and when Cliff saw the menu for a steak restaurant upstairs at the new marketplace with $150 entrees he didn't feel so bad. (Hy's left us with leftovers for dinner the next day so we call that a good value for a fabulous dining experience).


----------



## jehb2 (Feb 2, 2017)

AKE said:


> Its long overdue for an overhaul.  The first time we were there was almost 40 years ago and then it was a true marketplace where you could buy everything.  Today almost every vendor sells the same 'made in china' imitation souvenirs (i.e. junk)...the luster is long gone from the place.



The first time I went there about 25 years ago it was awesome.  I found the perfect bonnet with a lace bow.  I made my husband wear it went he started getting a sunburn at the Kodak Hula Show.  I stopped going there years ago.  It looked pretty depressing.  There's still the swap meet at Aloha Stadium.  I haven't been there in a while but I still insist family and friends go there for souvenirs.


----------



## jehb2 (Feb 2, 2017)

Thanks for the photos.  Looks like a lovely upscale outdoor mall.  I doubt I'll go into it.


----------



## waj80831 (Mar 2, 2017)

The developers absolutely ruined the International Marketplace.  We were there in Oct 2016 right after it opened.  It was once a great place for the small local vendors but it has turned into a mall that caters to the Japanese.  High dollar stores now.

The best place to shop still is the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet on the weekend.


----------



## BocaBoy (Mar 7, 2017)

waj80831 said:


> The developers absolutely ruined the International Marketplace.  We were there in Oct 2016 right after it opened.  It was once a great place for the small local vendors but it has turned into a mall that caters to the Japanese.  High dollar stores now.


Depends on one's definition of ruined, which is very much in the eyes of the beholder.  I have no personal opinion, since I was never at the old or the new International Marketplace, but a swap meet has absolutely no attraction for me.


----------



## clifffaith (Mar 7, 2017)

There is a bus that does Alhoha Stadium on swap meet days (I think Wed. and one or both weekend days), and includes dropping you off at Pearl Harbor when you are done at swap meet and collecting you later. We last did it in Jan 2015. I never liked swap meet as well as Int'l Marketplace, but likely because I'd already been shopping at the marketplace.


----------

