I absolutely love this 'Made In Hawaii" brand featuring rayon fabric. At first I thought the prints were all crazy and uber-colorful but there are so many prints (Copyrighted like Tommy Bahama) that aren't as "all up in your face." I don't like everything, BTW. Some prints are very loud. I like bright, not loud. My husband thinks that they are too much- too many colors together. I've seen this brand all over the island- in small stores, department stores like Macy's, and namesake stores in Ward Centers and Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Retail prices are high- up to $160 for a dress. My dear husband bought me a (Mariah) dress in the Outrigger for $130 (it was marked $160)- I saw it in the window on the mannequin and tried it on- it fit me like a glove; it's gorgeous and feminine. It was my Valentine's Day gift (he's good to me)- that was a search in itself (you know how it is, you have a gift card to a place, and you're stumped, which is ironic because it's burning a hole in your pocket). So, that purchase marked the start. The nice sales lady told me about the Outlet store, but quickly added that the dress just purchased was not one of the ones available there (past season stuff ends up there).
Imagine my surprise when I found out about this outlet store (My love affair with outlet shopping began early as my mom took me to the ones in the Bay Area when I was 9 years old- Esprit). We chose a driving day; we came here after breakfast. Park in the parking lot. It's a huge store carrying all the brands by Jams World (Surf Line). There are dressing rooms in the front. The other patrons besides myself were senior ladies with their husbands- probably retired. One of them was probably a local, because she kept talking about missing a big sale just a few days ago; her husband wasn't really all too concerned though (I thought that the prices were good). There were two ladies working there, busily working on more inventory (this is headquarters- where the orders are filled on the website too). In the front are the higher priced items: dresses were $55. In the racks to the side, were clearance items, mostly for women, skirts, tops, pants, and vests. It's an odd-shaped building (addition maybe?). You go through the narrow hallway into a warehouse; bathrooms just past the hallway, but the door is kept open (FYI). Here there are racks and tables of bargains, women's (impressive inventory), men's (kinda small), and children's (not bad). Besides the clothes, there are shorts, surf shorts, exclusive fabric swatches (in cubed bunches) and flip flops. So many choices! A nice breeze from the open windows is welcome as it can get a little warm inside. The dresses (Mariah & Connie- contemporary fit) and skirts seem to fit me the best- very flattering. The tanks do not look right on me. What did I get? I got four pretty skirts for about $53 (score!). I should of gotten that blue dress (dresses are my favorite thing to wear) though- next time? Parking was a little high- we were there a while. I like to browse through everything. And of course try everything on. (My husband was very patient- kudos to him.) Next time, I'll concentrate on the dresses and the skirts.
Summary store specifics: parking garage, clean, large open outlet store with lots of variety of merchandise in varying price ranges and sizes that's clearly marked and numerous markdowns/clearance racks (love that), bathrooms, dressing rooms, and non-pushy staff. (Dark outlet stores are bad.)
I saw someone wearing a tunic from jams World- it was beautiful. It's funny how you start noticing other people on vacation wearing certain brands. This is one of my favorite Hawaiian brands now. read more