T Galleria Hawaii By DFS

Ha! So, this place definitely caters to the Japanese visitors which is cool because I still enjoyed the stroll through the center. Definitely had different shops that had local products like soaps, Kona and Ka’u coffee. Also had the Godiva store here that sold ice cream, single truffles, hot chocolate and shakes.
So, I read the reviews where it says you can’t go up to the 3^rd floor without having the international passport or airline tickets. There was a sign before you go up the escalator with a security guard posted so, people like me won’t try it. They serious too! That 3^rd floor is where all the good stuff is and it’s duty free (no tax) but the good thing is those same stores are on the strip, so no worries.

It’s duty free and that’s about it. Is it me or is this place more expensive than anywhere else?

The Waikiki Galleria accepted over $ 4000 worth of fraudulent credit card charges on a counterfeit card with my wife’s account number. This store did not verify the shopper’s card information with a valid ID. This store facilitates larceny and fraud. If you value your credit rating, either pay in cash or stay the hell away from this place.

i didn’t shop here but it was fun to look around. they have dole whip on the 1^st floor towards the back.

This place is really cool because:
— you don’t pay taxes
— it’s HUGE
— special products
— the merchandising is ON POINT.
We browsed the 2^nd floor mainly, which is for makeup and other cosmetics. We got too tired for the 3^rd floor. 1^st floor was accesories/​hawaiian souvenirs, 2^nd floor was makeup/​cosmetic and perfumes, and the 3^rd floor sold apparel (I’m guessing clothes?).
It’s actually a good place to buy makeup/​cosmetics/​perfumes because they are duty free and there is no taxes added on. I noticed most of the prices are similar retail to Macy’s or Sephora. I.E. Benefit «They’re real» mascary was $ 24, same price as Macy’s. My mom LOVES Shiseido, and they had a new «regenerating» lift formula that retailed at $ 57 for ONE bottle, but there was a special package that had two bottles for $ 107, and it’s not offered anywhere (even the box said it was special to the Galleria).
However, I knocked off a star because every sales associate in this place are PUSHY and not knowledgeable about the products they are selling. One lady literally repeated what the sign said (prices) and didn’t tell me about what the product did or what it is good for –_​_​-​«. If you’re going to follow me around, please TELL me what the product is good for. Lol. Also, some of them do not speak English because the main clientele here are Japanese.
I’d come back if I knew exactly what my mom wanted, and leave as fast as I can.
At first glance this place is expensive, but if you really do the math, you’ll be saving on taxes. Especially if you’re buying something in the hundred/​thousand $$$ range.
** Can’t wait for Christmas, because I’m sure they’ll have some cool gifts!

This review is for the Honolulu Cookie Company store in the mall. Every time I come to Hawaii I always buy $ 200+ in cookies to give away as souvenirs, but even though this one is tax free I wouldn’t buy from them. The two Chinese salespeople (one male and one female) were extremely rude. They don’t smile. They don’t look you in the eye when speaking. Their tone is rude and purely transactional. The guy actually pounded on the counter to tell me to move out of the way for the other customer he was trying to ring up. Very typical of Chinese people who don’t understand the importance of customer service (I’m Chinese). I’m on vacation looking to spend lots of money, not trying to haggle over the price of fish at the fish market. All the other locations have extremely friendly staff who welcome you in and talk to you like they’re your friends. So unless you want to be treated like shit to save on the tax, I would highly discourage you from giving this place your business.

I love shopping in this store. I found my
Perfect sunglasses here which I couldn’t find anywhere else. I get Kinder chocolate here for my family. I love the DFS exclusives. The Godiva store in there has the best chocolate. There are many great things at DFS and you really have to go shop and enjoy it.

Tax-​free shopping with some pretty fun visual merchandising for tourists and locals! All I can say is that I appreciate three stories of AC in this humid summer weather.
You can shop the first and second floors, but the third floor is off-​limits for purchasing stuff unless you have a passport (much to my chagrin). I love shopping cosmetic brands (2^nd floor) that they don’t have anywhere else, such as Anna Sui. Sadly, they do not have the Paul & Joe counter anymore… :(The unique cosmetic selection has dwindled since the rebranding of the «Duty Free store» in Waikiki to T Galleria.
The store is designed so that after you reach Marc by Marc Jacobs at the «end» of the first floor, they direct you to the escalator to the third floor where all the «off-​limit duty free» brands are located. Then you make you way down to the second floor, then first floor. Great way to get tourists to cover ALL the floors.
Of course, if you’re a local and want to skip the third floor since you can’t purchase stuff anyway, there is an escalator that goes to the second floor by the coffee/​cookie/​Godiva shop. The way down from the second floor is either to walk back to that escalator after you’ve made your round or take the elevator down, which is located by Khiel’s.
Lots of comfortable seating. Even though locals can’t shop the third floor, it’s nice that we can still view the selection. At least the rest is still TAX FREE!

Very, very clean! ! Lots of comfortable seats, coffee tables, & couches for tired shoppers, especially for devoted significant others :)

Solid 3.5 stars.
The usual suspects when it comes to the major designers names — well, just Burberry & Chanel lol — Hugo Boss has lost a bit of its cache but Michael Kors, etc are here.
Bonus star because of its comfortable seating area… and lots of signage.
3 levels, off the main shopping area, where no riff raff or students can be found lol.
Sure, I’ll be back.

This is a cool place to come and browse for high end products. Everything that DFS carries is of good quality. There is the food section on the ground floor that has all of the Hawaiian made food goodies and they offer samples of some. Good place to look at the selections and compare prices to other outside sources. Go upstairs to oooh and ahh their line of fashion, eyewear and cosmetics.

TGalleria carries Kinder Bueno confections, which are chocolate-​covered wafers with a smooth milk and hazelnut filling, so crispy and delicious! It’s addicting!
As far as I know, TGalleria is the only one that carries this particular confection, and it’s on SALE! Buy 3 boxes, get $ 6 off! Woo hoo!

«T Galleria by DFS» is fun to walk through, especially if you are or like to pretend you are quite wealthy. I think I managed to get through the entire thing, except the «game room» that was geared towards Japanese tourists I guess?
Service is hit or miss depending on the salesperson, and it’s annoying that the best stuff is «off limits» to Americans. I wish they could figure out a way to just charge the tax and let you take home what you want! Still, you’re allowed to look at everything, including the fantastic jewelry/​watch floor!
I could see how locals would take advantage of the beauty department. It had some brands I’ve never seen in any department or specialty store. The gourmet/​sweets department had a nice broad but edited to higher price points selection, but nothing that I hadn’t seen elsewhere.
It’s definitely more branded than Neiman Marcus or Saks are, and I appreciated perusing all of the individual brand shops. If I had money to burn, or was a foreign national, I’d have fun here! Absolutely fantastic for window shopping though.
Note: I didn’t get «checked» for a passport or boarding pass or anything to get into the duty-​free area, and don’t recall anyone posted at the entrance. I just waltzed confidently right in.

I must say that this is a great place to window shop. They have two floors of elite products… however, they are not at a «DFS» discount for us non-​international passport holding customers. If you want to receive a TRUE tax-​free deal, you have to go to the 3 °F and you can’t. There’s a person there checking passports.
With that all said and done, that’s the only problem here. Here’s the good:
1) Air Conditioned from the time you enter. It’s so cold and a welcome reprieve from the heat of Hawaii on a Summer’s day.
2) Selection. You can find all the high-​end items your heart desires. From Gucci and Michael Kors to G-​Shock to Ferragamo perfume. Shoes, shirts, pants, watches, purses & wallets, cologne, perfume, baby clothes, coffee, chocolates, sunglasses, and so much more… Not the discount products you would find elsewhere… Expect top-​of-​the-​line here.
3) Clean restrooms. They are located on the 2 °F and on the right wall corner before you turn left into the perfume & cologne area. A little hidden though very well maintained.
4) Samples. Cookies, chocolates, and coffee. You can sample the cologne’s and perfume’s as well. Fun!
5) Customer Service. You will not go for long without someone coming to you asking if they can assist you. That’s nice.
6) Currency Exchange. Once you enter from the street, it’s straight ahead and on your left. You can, if you have foreign currencies, exchange here and not have to worry about it. The rates are terrible though it’s a convenience and one you will appreciate.
7) Starbucks. If you have a hankering for some of this staple coffee from all over the world, before you take the escalator to the 2 °F, it’s straight out the doors there.
8) Seating. There are ample seats to use to rest your weary feet. Take a load off and enjoy the air conditioning with some coffee.
That’s about it. Come here for the eye candy and all the window shopping of many stores in one place. You are sure to spend an hour or so here.

I mean it’s obviously very pretty and when I walk by, the air conditioning billowing out of the huge entrance is very refreshing. Other than that, I can’t really afford a lot of the high end brands here… I’m a poor college student:(
However, thy have a few stores that you won’t find along kalakaua or in Ala Moana. I like checking out the Marc Jacobs store and some of the make up stores.
I’m not really sure how this duty free deal works. But if you want to buy something duty free from here, you’ll pay for it, pick it up at the airport and have to take it out of the country. Therefore, not a lot of locals shop here. I won’t unless I’m going on a trip.
Overall, the layout is confusing. It felt like those airports that purposely make you walk through a maze of stores before exiting (I’m thinking of the Denpasar airport…). But the décor is nice and it’s a nice escape from the hot weather and humidity. They also open at 11am, so late!

TAX FREE.
It’s duty free, and duty free I guess covers the tax, yet patrons like me can purchase things w/​out an international boarding pass! Except stuff on the 3^rd floor, that you need an international boarding pass to purchase stuff.
I’m from California, so shopping in HI was already a plus for me since sales tax is like 50% lower than CA, but then discovering this mall was awesome. So I skipped Sephora and bought all my beauty care products here before heading home =)

Very nice shopping center with everything but high end stores. Burberry, Prada, Gucci, LV, TagHuer, Omega, etc. Plus lots of high end make up and skin care as well.
3 levels to walk through. round and round and round. Even though you might come out buying nothing. It is just a nice air conditioned space to walk around. Plus it is DUTY FREE!

DFS or T-​Galleria as it’s now know is a shoppers paradise. If you don’t already know DFS does not charge tax on its items! Personally I only come here to buy beauty and skin care items. Like I said, no tax! DFS also carries a lot of speciality beauty brands that you can’t find at Sephora, Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus. It saves me the trouble of ordering items online and I can get my products immediately, wooo!
Sales associate are so-​so. Not all of the workers are fluent in Japanese, but they tend to cater to Japanese tourists. As a result, Japanese shoppers clearly get better services here.

If you have money, this place is your three-​story epic playground. Leave your boyfriend at the hotel, unless he’s paying or he really really REALLY likes shopping.
Duty-​freeeeee amazingness. Tax-​free, even for the locals and mainlanders. Jenny L.‘s review sums it up pretty well, so I won’t restate anything she said.
I do have to disagree with service though. Most people are obviously there to check in on you («Hi, how are you? May I help you with anything?») is obviously («Hi, I’m watching you, please don’t steal) in retail-​speak. Otherwise, they don’t really know much about their products other than what’s available for sale. My boyfriend laughed after the woman completed my transaction at Bobbi Brown and then ran away immediately to hide from me, trying to avoid further conversation.
Other than that, shop away (Balenciaga on 3^rd floor!)

For those of you that don’t know what DFS stands for… it’s Duty-​Free Store. Yay ok got that out of the way. Now what is so amazing about DFS Galleria? Hmmm how about the fact they carry brands in full stores that not even Ala Moana has?
Layout:
When you first enter DFS Galleria Waikiki its a beautiful hallway with stores on both sides such as Ralph Lauren, Coach, Burberry, Emporio Armani and so on. When you reach the end of the hallway you can find stores like Marc by Marc Jacobs (WHICH I LOVE) as well as Michael Kors… unfortunately this Michael Kors only carries bag… no ready to wear garments here ladies. *Sad face*
Proceed up to the escalator on the right hand side and it takes you directly to the 3^rd floor which I will talk about in a little while or go to the back and take the escalator to the second floor which leads you to beauty. When I say they have every damn beauty line you can think of… they really do… like seriously. Chanel, YSL, Urban Decay, Shu… tons! The best thing is that the ladies are extremely friendly and are willing to help you with any question you might have. NOW! If you are an extremely dark-​skinned female as myself it’s best to just stick with going to Sephora which will have more choices as this location caters to mainly Asian tourists. That being said the ladies at these counters will not be as versed as finding something for you skin if you are darker than medium pale.
Proceed onwards to the third floor and you have my heaven of locations. BAGS! Unfortunately there is no Celine store on this island *side eye* except for at this location, so I can allow gaze with a drooling mouth at all the beautiful trapeze and luggage bags at the store. Sadly the third floor you cannot buy anything from the store and take it with you. How this works is you buy something from the store and you pick it up at the airport at the DFS store there. You might be thinking oh that’s wonderful I get to buy this awesome Prada bag duty free and go to Miami. WRONG… you must be flying internationally… they will ask for proof such as your plane ticket or itinerary. Sometimes life can be so cruel… if you aren’t flying internationally… don’t hurt your heart and venture to the third floor because you might just tear up a bit.
I actually told my parents they should book me a ticket to Nigeria… yeah yeah to see family and all that jazz but ALSO so that I could get that beautiful Celine bag. Kill two birds with one stone?
Parking:
Now I have a moped so I conveniently park wherever I damn well please and I’m always out before the parking enforcement can ticket me. Total Boss Status. For those of you that do drive your 4 wheeled vehicles there is parking on seaside and I believe it’s 10 flat rate? Don’t quote me… otherwise you will have a hard time finding parking as it is in the center of Waikiki.
Enjoy your shopping… and who ever gets to get a luggage bag from Celine… I envy you!