Yes, bow before your smiley-faced retail overlords. Two of our travelling companions had arrived in Waikīkī about six hours before us and decided to get a few staples (milk and such). They knew that there was a Wal-Mart in town, but none of the locals they asked would tell them where it was. One instead directed them to a grocery store where they paid $4 for a half-gallon of milk; twenty dollars worth of groceries ended up costing them over eighty dollars.
We soon found slightly better prices in the ubiquitous ABC Stores—$6.39 for a gallon of milk; the reality of pricing in an island economy was a bit shocking (the nearest land-mass outside the archipelago is 2,000 miles away).
Of course, we finally did find the O‘ahu version of Sam Walton’s shopping mecca. It even had an adjoining parking garage and a Sam’s Club in a second story above. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a more crowded Wal-Mart.
Love it or hate it (I have a few friends who refuse to shop at Wal-Mart for various reasons), it was hard to say no to a gallon of milk that was “only” $3.88. I could see why local retailers would really hate Wal-Mart and the distinct advantage that their vast distribution network gives them.
This Wal-Mart even sold Hawaiian shirts and other touristy souvenirs, but I had to draw the line somewhere.
