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Friday, December 20, 2013

Christmas Shopping and Flag J Hawaii

My mom and I did our last minute Christmas shopping at Ala Moana yesterday! There are still a few people we need gifts for, but our arms were struggling with all the bags we had and our feet were sore because we didn't pick our shoes wisely/we didn't know we would both be out all freaking day -__-. Gilly Hicks was having a "semi-annual sale", but I believe they're also closing Jan 11, so they're trying to get rid of stock. Almost everything is 50% off and the underwear is $2.99 so we snagged some stuff to give away and for ourselves lol

You probably can't tell, but there's 5 really soft pajama bottoms ($11.00 each), 2 pars of leggings ($15.00 each?), and then there's 7 pairs of underwear ($2.99 each) and 2 bralets ($9.99 each). They ran out of boxes at the store, so the girl gave us lots of Gilly Hicks shopping bags instead. They ended up adding a lot of weight lol.

Next, we went to LUPICIA for tea for my grandparents. I wanted to report which we ended up buying them but the shop staff already gift wrapped the teas so I also don't have a picture lol.
I also wanted to look at Nature Republic because it just opened this past week! Previously it was only in Waikiki.
I like the design on the big shopping bag! Initially, they only gave us the smaller, plainer one on the right, but my mom was worried that it wouldn't be able to support the weight of the products we bought, so she asked for another one. The Aloe gels were buy 3, get 1 free, so of course my mother bought 4 ($5.50 each).
She also bought nail polish and polish remover for my cousin's wife's daughter ($1.40 each) and two for me lol. And the two yellow boxes on the left are lightweight sunscreens. They were like $18.00 each, but my mom wanted something that absorbed quickly that can be used under make up. She also got one for my brother's gf's mom.

Okay, so the whole point of writing this post was about the Flag J Hawaii store! Flag J is an accessories/shoe store in Shibuya 109. I remember passing it the day I shopped there like 2 years ago now, but I convinced myself I didn't need any more shoes so I didn't go in. Here are some photos of the 109 Flag J store from the Shibuya 109 webshop site -
I think it's so cool that we now have one in Hawaii! It's not going to be exactly the same or nearly as grand, but the option is there! I hope it survives. It's not in the best location for the kind of clientele they need to bring in, but I'm crossing my fingers for them. The store has been open for about a year now, & I've been in the store before, but I just haven't been able to pick something to buy or feel comfortable enough in there to ask to try on a shoe. Since I was with my mother yesterday, and she was also interested in the shoes, we took our time trying on like 6 different pairs lol. Here's some pictures I snapped inside the Flag J Hawaii store -
Display at the back of the store
From the back of the store looking toward the entrance
Shoe display
Red heart shaped seats to sit on while you try on shoes/wait for your gf to try on shoes
Behind the register
Me looking grumpy af for who knows what reason,
probably since it's like 8:30pm and I left the house at 6:00am lol
Round display with white/light colored shoes
Cute or not? I like the motif of the store. I especially like the heart cutouts that hide the support beams. It definitely reminds me of being in Shibuya 109 with the bold colors and elaborate staging. I wish I got one of the cake display at the entrance where the $29.99 shoes were, but I guess I just forgot lol o_o. Sorry the pictures aren't great quality. I was just walking around, pretending to browse and snapping photos, haha.
The insole of the shoes have the Flag J Hawaii logo on them with the hibiscus. I'm happy that the shoes still have the snap closure (rather than the buckle) that I love on Japanese shoes. The other thing that carries on from Japanese design is that the shoes come in Japanese shoe sizes (S, M, L). My foot is really right in the middle of M and L, where I can fit M, but my foot hangs off the back or I get the L but the straps a bit loose. At the Flag J Hawaii store, the shop staff will add an extra hole in the strap for you free of charge! If you buy a pair, leave the store, start wearing them and then realize you need the strap to be tighter, that's also fine. They will add the extra hole on their shoes if you just bring them back.  
Here are the shoes we bought (hers on the left, mine on the right) -
I believe our total was around $140. The original price of each pair was $98.00 but they were having a 30% off sale for the entire store (except the $29.99 shoes). The original price is a little more than the Japanese price, but that's to be expected. The stock is also different than the Japanese store, but, again, I expected it to be since the shoes at our Flag J store are manufactured as "Flag J Hawaii". I don't think we're getting the reject or extra stock from Japanese stores, but instead having Flag J Hawaii specific stock. (<-- I don't know that as a hard fact; that's just a guess)
My mom said she was giving me my shoes for Christmas, so better pictures of my shoes later! The Flag J Hawaii shoe boxes are kind of obnoxious and not great quality (they don't need to be great quality shoe boxes, but I usually keep my shoes in their boxes, and I won't be doing that for this pair). I'm not a huge fan of those, but the shopping bags match the decor in the store perfectly -
Overall, I'm happy with my purchase and the experience I had at the store. The shop staff are really friendly and after you check out, they will walk you with your items to the exit like some Japanese stores have their staff do. I think once I wear my shoes for awhile I can comment on the quality, but I think I will probably go back if the store stays in business :)

2 comments:

  1. Aw, you got some good bargins! I can't wait to see a better shot of your shoes!! XD I think the J-flag store is really cool looking too! I love the love heart motif and stuff!!

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    1. Haha yeah I thought there were some not bad deals. That mall is usually pretty expensive. My mom didn't take the shoes to wrap them so maybe I'll just hide them in my room...

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