Buying groceries

[NanMar]

I keep reading about buying groceries at Costco but is there a Sams club?

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

There is. If you go to the Sam's Cub web site you can see where it's located at.

 

[nkereina]

If you're like us and don't need the large wholesale quantities, there is a Target, Walmart and Safeway at the Kapolei exit which is the exit next to Aulani/Ko Olina. Safeway is their grocery store and would have everything needed for food. We stopped at Target and got drinks, snacks, breakfast items, alcohol, toiletries, sunscreen, floats/snorkel gear, etc. It had everything we needed.

 

[Pooh2]

We went to Target, which is a short drive from Aulani. We just needed to pick up breakfast items/snacks/drinks/sunblock.

 

[3monkeys4me]

We also went to Target for the stuff we needed for Aulani. I actually used all those gift cards they give you as part of their advertised sales ( the buy two get a $5 gift card type deals) to pay for the groceries we needed. We were only at Aulani 6 night though.

 

[cgattis]

Is the Walmart a super Walmart (I.e. groceries)? We generally shop for groceries there at home (not by choice), so I know they carry "our brand" of certain things (although in HI I guess they might not). At home it's a bit cheaper than Target...same in HI? Anybody bought "gear" (snorkel stuff, etc.) there?

 

[nkereina]

Is the Walmart a super Walmart (I.e. groceries)? We generally shop for groceries there at home (not by choice), so I know they carry "our brand" of certain things (although in HI I guess they might not). At home it's a bit cheaper than Target...same in HI? Anybody bought "gear" (snorkel stuff, etc.) there?

We did not go in Walmart but from what I could see from the outside, it did not appear to be a super Walmart. It actually looked kind of small. Smaller than the ones I'm used to seeing at home. But you could always give it a try and if no luck, Safeway is right there.

Not sure about Walmart but I can confirm Target had all kinds of gear - floats, rafts, snorkel stuff, etc. A few aisles of it back by the sporting goods/seasonal section. We found Target's prices mostly comparable to Target back home.

 

[Minniesgal]

We went to Safeway but the Walmart did have groceries but not a lot of groceries.

 

[NancyDVC]

The exit for shopping in Kapolei is Exit 1B. We went to Foodland which is also i Kapolei based on recommendations from several CMs at Aulani. When you get off at Exit 1B the first traffic light is Kamokila Blvd. You are on Wakea St. Go 4 blocks straight ahead to Foodland on the right in a small shopping center. They have good prices and if you give the cashier a 10 digit phone number you enroll in their Maikai club and get all the sale prices which are very good. I found many items with the Maikai yellow tag prices were priced very well. They will not call or text you. We did not need the large sizes from Costco. I always check with the local people such as the CMs.They know where to shop.

If you want Safeway and Longs Drugs you turn left at the traffic light on to Kamokila Blvd which becomes Farmington Hwy. The shopping center with Safeway and Longs Drugs will be on your left with a number of fast food places including Taco Bell and McDonald's. Longs is owned by CVS so if you have a CVS extracare card bring it and you will get their sales. I also brought a CVS 25% off coupon that I decide just before we left. I was able to use that as well with my card!hey
If you want Costco turn right onto Kamokila Blvd and go to Kapolei Pkwy where Costco is. A right turn onto Kapolei will take you to the shopping center with Target. From what I understand it is not a Super Target.
Be sure to bring reusable shopping bags Hawaii state law requires you to be charged for bags if you don't bring them. We brought a few reusable bags from home but we did get the regular bags at the ABC stores and Longs that were sturdy and reuseable. As a matter of fact the ones at Longs say that they are made of recycled plastic and are designed to be used 125 times!

As for prices there is a bit of sticker shock involved. I saw a loaf of Arnold's Oat Bran bread for $7.69 at the ABC store. It is about $3.99 near me but I can get it at the Entenmann's Outlet for 3 loaves for $4.00!
That area is being built up with a new mall called the Ka Makana Alii that just opened on Kapolei Pkwy. There is a Macy's as well as other chain stores and a food court. More stores are coming soon. It is a ways down Kapolei Pkwy after the Kapolei High School and the Kapolei Middle School. They have a Farmers Market on Wednesday. It seems that you are going into the middle of nowhere but there is a ton of new construction houses, apartments etc.