International Market Place

This place is pretty damn awesome so much so that Las Vegas replicated it on the strip, ha! My friend got her navel pierced here it began to rust so she needed a check up. Meanwhile, I wandered off to see what this place was about. They have a lot of jewelry for cheap and did buy some stuff to send to my sister. I got a mirror for myself and after about 2 times of using it the mirror came off… I guess it wasn’t glued very well. If you want quality Hawaii products, this place may not be it.

Where did all those wonderful, reasonably prices jewelry kiosk vendors go to???

Writing this for posterity (careful to not write «posterior», heh heh). I just got the bad news that the terrifically ticky tacky International Market Place is gone. Waaah.
This was a memorable place to go for us tourists. It *felt* like Hawai’i, at least what us Mainlanders would think is stereotypical Hawai’i. Ticky tacky sign in front. Ticky tacky fake trees. Ticky tacky souvenirs. It had the same appeal as «Plan 9 From Outer Space», it was so bad it was fun. Those seeking the real Hawai’i would be on another island by now.
What can I say? I got my first Hawaiian shirts here, my kuku shells, my grass mat, my record of «Aloha Oe». If I ever dare set foot in Waikiki again, where would I take my wife, who loves the ticky tacky tourist traps? Well, I guess there’s Hilo Hattie’s…
The people who sold out to Saks should be dropped from the top of Diamond Head.

I just returned from Hawaii. The first night there, I was astounded to see a giant void — with the iconic tree still standing! I’ve been to Honolulu 6 times before, so I knew immediately what had been there.
To say I’m heartbroken doesn’t even begin to state my feelings! At first, I thought they were maybe just putting in a a new version, an update, up to code or something like that.
But, no – it’s another upscale mall full of overpriced designer garbage pandering to foreign tourists with money to spend. No feelings for the icon they’re replacing. No feelings for the merchants they’re putting out of business. No feelings for the people who will miss it – not to mention the food court! That was amazing, and a great place to get a relatively cheap meal.
I’m from the Chicago suburbs — if I want designer merchandise, I don’t even have to go as far as Michigan Avenue. It’s all in Oak Brook Mall. I don’t travel to purchase merchandise I can buy at home (for less money yet!).
This was an icon of Hawaii. What’s next? Tearing down the King Kamehameha statue in downtown Honolulu? Turning Diamond Head into a water park? Maybe I shouldn’t give them ideas!
Waikiki was always commercial, but this has taken it to the next level. I’m not sure I’ll be back.

Reflecting on my many past visits to the International Market Place, I loved stopping by their food court or simply walking around and checking out the smaller shops and businesses or even their nightly entertainment. It’s probably one of the last things in Waikiki that had this real «Hawaiian feeling» to it.
Now it just absolutely sucks that they decided to close this historic, iconic and wonderful location to rebuild it into something that is more upscale and too commercialized. Sadly, as it turns out, April 2013 was the last time I was able to actually see the International Market Place in-​person.
I agree with the other reviewers and indeed, I really think that Honolulu (along with the surrounding communities) has been getting more and more commercialized over the years, which is not a good sign of keeping their traditional ways. I’m like, who needs even more upscale shops around the area; don’t we have enough as it is? I’m telling you, things will never be the same in Waikiki again now that the International Market Place is closed!

I was looking over things to do for our planned trip back to Hawaii. I heard the market was closing, but was hoping things might change. Now I read there’s no hope. The International Market Place was Honolulu’s icon.
My wife and i spent our honeymoon in Hawaii back in 1980 and she still has a necklace she had bought at the International Market Place. When we returned in 2011, the first place we went to was the market. So many good memories. Sure, the stuff was mostly junk, but it was fun junk. We also found things to buy and give as gifts.
So, Saks is going to take over? Well, I guess that’s one stop we won’t have to make. We’ve never liked Saks and we have one 5 minutes from our house. They have nothing but over priced items and without the quality.
It’s too bad Honolulu is getting more and more commercialized. It’s getting to a point where people will bypass Oahu and go straight to the other islands. That’s exactly what we’re thinking about doing. If we enjoyed traffic, crowds, tall buildings, and street noise we wouldn’t leave our city. Goodbye International Market Place and goodbye Honolulu.

Sad to discover that the International Market Place is being closed to make room for a mall. I have many memories of buying souvenirs here, from little silver necklaces to a calculator with gem shaped buttons (hey, it was the 90s).
It will be hard to see Waikiki without this open air market full of things you probably don’t need but still find a reason to buy.
Head to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium if you are looking for deals on souvenirs. It’s not the same, but now that this option is gone, it’s better than nothing!

Goodbye IMP! Even though alot of the stuff sold here is the junky stuff, I did score a bunch of pareos haggling with the vendors. That’s the fun part of shopping here. That and escaping the hot sun under the shaded trees. I loved that this place wasn’t pretentious and I could come back 10 years later and everything still looked the same and I knew exactly where to find the koi pond. Well goodbye, Aloha Oe. all the huts, the crazy maze, the koi pond. hoping they keep some of IMP’s trees .they hold so much history.
News article about closing:

Aloha oe to the Triad and Isreali controlled booths with nothing made in Hawaii, to the people who have no aloha and hate Hawaiians to the filthy bars and the drunk
marines and hookers and crack whores and wasted space in middle of Waikiki. Saks Kalakaua Ave coming with more shit not made in Hawaii just more expensive as the tail wags the dog in Waikiki the song remains the same

I like this place! Yes, it’s a lot of stands of tourist stuff but I remember coming here on family vacations and didn’t mind stopping by a few months ago when we were on vacation.
I stopped by one of the pearl places and cracked open an oyster, however all of the settings at all of the pearl stands were poor quality and overpriced. We ended up just buying the pearl and will have our jeweler back home work their magic.
Loved the juice shop. Bought a pineapple for around $ 10 and he took out the inside, blended into juice and poured it back into the shell for us to drink. So good and made for some cute pictures!
They also had some wood carving stands and other cool things to look at. I wouldn’t want to spend all day here (and it’s not that big anyways), but I like strolling though.
I was sad to hear it will be closing down soon so that they can build a Saks Fifth Avenue — just what Honolulu needs, more high end stores. Personally I recommend skipping Honolulu all together and going to other islands. It just feels like Beverly Hills next to a beach and since I live 15 minutes from Beverly Hills that’s kind of a waste!
But I’m sad to see this place go, I think it’s a fun stop!

Was early to check into the room. Walked around Waikiki and found this place. Let me tell you I was easily deceived by how «deep» this places goes in. I didn’t realize it went so far back and then there were buildings. But nice find. There are lot of kiosks and stores. There was some sort of order to them as I saw there was a «tiki village» — where they make tikis and what not.
My brother & I ended up getting Henna’s in the back of the shopping area. Upon talking to him he says the international market place is going to demolish the center and reopen with big name stores — WHAT!!! A lot of people will be going out of business. That’s so depressing and sad. I liked this little marketplace and it’s little quaint look. I suggest buying up the trinkets before they close.
I think first timers to Hawaii would like this place more than locals.
I would recommend going here just to see what cheap souvenirs you can get — necklaces, jewelery, etc.

Not too much good to say about this place.
It is a large semi-​outdoor market of tourist junk. You see the same stuff over and over again and the proprietors are the various booths and carts are pretty aggressive.
NOTE: This place is closing at the end of 2013. They are tearing down the market to build a three story shopping mall. As a result, every vendor claims to be having a «going out of business» sale.

This is a fun spot with lots of kiosks selling every imaginable bit of souvenir kitsch that you regret buying only after returning home.
The market is nice because it is reasonably clean, has a central location to its target audience, and really does have lots of choices. Who knew there were so many Hawaii themed cell phone covers?
The downsides are these…
1.Lots of the stuff is junk. In some instances you wonder if the Hawaii license plate you bought wasn’t stolen.
2. In parts of the market the booths are tightly packed and room to walk is limited.
3. Some merchants are agressive to the point of near abuse. It is ironic that you are only blocks from stores that wouldn’t give you the time of day unless you walked in covered in Prada and Cartier or nothing at all, yet you can come here and be harrassed.

International Marketplace, it is all right if this is your kind of place. I encountered this place on my first day in Oahu by accident. I decided, «Why the heck not?» and walked in to explore the place. Totally reminded me of the open air marketplaces in the Philippines that the family over there loved to go to. I remember International Marketplace being quite nice, pleasant, yet bustling and overwhelming as well. And the bonus was it was not too far from my hotel. Nice to know it was nearby.
My first day, I made only one purchase here. I saw a ying/​yang enamel ring in sterling silver. To make a long story short, the proprietor wanted me to haggle with her and it was nearly the end of a business day. She wanted to make one more sale. It was $ 10, so I wanted a 50% discount. And I got it for $ 5. SFW!
Cor! Wow! Really?! I have been reading many of the reviews and tips that International Marketplace is being closed down to make room for a shopping mall. That is too bad and disheartening news to hear. I hope they can find a new location for their clients and tourists who like and love looking for souvenirs and bargains. It is quite an institution, it would be quite a shame if it is gone for good!
Fresh Unilocal!Review #70 for 2013

Best place to buy your souvenirs on Oahu.
Too bad they will tear it down to build a crappy Sak’s Fifth Avenue Avenue to please the Asian customers … Terrible for the tourism industry.

If you need to snag some souvenirs before leaving Waikiki, this is the place to go. You can score some good deals on t-​shirts, towels, bracelets, necklaces, flower headpieces, and pretty much anything else you would find at a gift/​souvenir shop.
A big plus is that you can bargain with most of the shop owners/​workers to get even better prices than what they were originally asking for. One thing that I thought was funny, though, is that every shop says «Close-​Out Sale, Everything Must Go», but no one could answer when or why they were closing…
The International Market Place also has a food court, so if you need to take a break while shopping for a bite to eat, you don’t have to go far.

A whole lot of different more or less likeable items available here. High frequency of tourists and accordingly there’s everything available here that could be brought home as a gift or souvenir. Most of these things are not my cup of tea, really.

I understand that this place is geared towards tourists but my boyfriend and I had a terrible experience here.
My boyfriend had just bought a new phone that came out while we were on vacation, so we decided to come here to get a phone case for it. We decided to go to one of the kiosks and asked the saleswomen if they have any cases for his phone. she showed us some of the cases in a very rude way and was very pushy at getting us to buy it. She was shoving it in our faces and our hands. She also wouldn’t let us look at the different designs before telling us to give her 10 dollars for it. We felt really uncomfortable so we told her no thank you. She then proceeded to give us a death glare then she look at my boyfriend and said «you go ahead and let your phone crack.» She totally cursed his phone.
I can understand wanting to make a sale, but when you are that hostile, nobody is going to want to be near you.

I do love this marketplace. It’s touristy, but then, I don’t mind that. There are kiosks, stores, restaurants and a free hula show on select days. It’s open-​air, so if it’s raining, and you’re caught, you’re sunk.
The place gets crowded, and the aisles between the line of kiosks in the back of the market are narrow, but there are so many different options that I don’t mind at all. What I *do* mind is the vulture-​swooping-​down-​on-​you-​the-​second-​you-​even-​glance-​at-​an-​item-​on-​a-​cart move that all the vendors in the back possess. I stopped once to scratch my calf, and had two people hemming me in, telling me I needed to buy something from their cart. Apparently they thought I was eyeballing a particular item each one of them was selling, so they were working hard to get me to buy.
You can employ the same strolling, browsing, circling back strategy that you may use when shopping at the swap meet here. That way you can ensure you’re finding the very best deal on whatever it is you’re purchasing at that time. You may have to endure the vultures, but at least they start out friendly enough.
(I got, «Aloha! This dress is only $ 28. Great deal!» and then when I smiled and politely declined, I got, «Okay, $ 25, even better deal!» and when I shook my head and started walking away, I heard «Final price — $ 22! No better deal anywhere!» I wanted to tell her that I got the same dress from the swap meet for $ 12, but refrained.)
The hula show is *long*. I was expecting to plant my ass for a good fifteen minutes, thirty at the most. Forty-​five minutes later, we were still entrenched in the show. Not that it wasn’t entertaining, because it was. But still, it seemed to go on forever.

Most of the people who reviewed IMP on this site do not pay one single bit of attention to other reviewers, which completely defeats the purpose of using Unilocal.
Case in point: There are 150 photos of IMP on Unilocal.A whopping 27 of those photos are of the SAME sign out front. That means 27 people went to the market, got ripped off, wrote their one-​sided review, and posted their picture of the big sign without looking at anything else on the site. That’s amazing!!!
As a tribute to these automatons, I posted a picture of the IMP waterfall sign. There were only 20 pics of the waterfall sign (including a person who posted the exact same pic twice), so I felt I better contribute. =0
There is a reason the IMP is located smack in the middle of pricey Waikiki hotels: They can see you coming a mile away! Listen, go to the IMP, walk around, and look at stuff. Get an idea, but do not buy! Everything you’re seeing is on sale way cheaper at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. It’s also cheaper at military exchanges and some of it is available at ABC Stores and Hilo Hattie for cheaper.
Seriously, shopping here is like waiting until you get on the turnpike to fill your gas tank. I am all for you contributing to the local economy, but check out the other shopping options before you take a bath here.

Yup. I would say I’m a fan! We came here no less than 6 times during our week in Hawaii. lol This is the best place to pick up souveneers at good prices.
They also have an internet café, a post office where you can send things off you just bought, and a full food court with plenty of options!
The only reason I wouldn’t give it 5 stars is because many of the vendors sell the same things. over and over and over. You can certainly haggle with most of them. I saved quite a bit just by asking. lol How can you beat that?
You can pick up (at great prices) Aloha shirts, t-​shirts, tiki masks, tiki statues, mugs, jewlery, windchimes, and much, much more!
Its outdoors so you still get that nice breeze and warm weather as you bop around all the different shops.
4 stars!