Coach

YaYa helped me out and she was incredibly helpful. And not only with just coach accessories. She gave me great advice of where to go and what to do during my stay here in Waikiki. YaYa really helped make the trip wonderful and she has great recommendations. Also really fun to look around the store with her.

So there are apparently 4 Coach stores in Waikiki. I’ll cover the two that are on the Diamond Head Side.
This Unilocal address for Outrigger Waikiki is the larger of the two and faces Kalakaua across from International Marketplace. They have a pretty extensive offering, but as of summer, 2014, it is primarily geared toward Women, only 3 drawers of belts, wallets, and accessories.
The Men’s boutique is slightly smaller and is located a short walk toward Diamond Head in the Hyatt Regency (directly across from the Duke statue).
Service at both locations was extremely attentive and knowledgeable, but not pushy. At the Outrigger location, Jeff K. took great care of my indecisive wife’s search for a new wallet.
Coach is going through a pretty big change at the moment with a new Creative Director, Stuart Vevers. So expect the store concepts and products to change substantially starting in the fall.
With that said, I’m a big fan of Coach wallets and belts for men. They have extremely attractive brief cases and backpacks as well, but I’m saving up for those…
Although I don’t spend too much time in Waikiki, I slightly prefer these stores to the Ala Moana store because they seem to have more inventory and variety.

I’m a new Coach fan. I bought my first bag a year ago and I’m hooked. I won’t be caught dead with a signature bag but I adore their patent leather products. The new heels I bought are hoooooooot.
The customer service is what keeps me coming back. I’m never ignored. My questions and needs are met. However, it doesn’t feel like I’m being tailed.
I like the location next to Tiffany’s the best. I believe its called Luxury Row. Free valet parking is located to the left of Tiffany. Just show your receipt from a Luxury Row store when you pick up your car. Be nice and tip the valets. They’re quick and polite.

Better selections now.

I used to sell leather goods at a higher end retail store in the Stanford Shopping Mall in Palo Alto a long time ago. And I like leather goods personally, love the feel. My iPhone has a leather protective case, my roller business bag is leather, and back in the day when they were popular, I had not one, but 2 pair of leather pants, one tan, one black. I have 2 leather jackets, Bomber and Mid-​length. I also sold Women’s leather shoes and bags to put myself through Berkeley.
Coach used to be a high quality, no-​nonsense maker of leather goods. People didn’t buy them much because their designs were too boring, too simple, too much leather, and the «Coach» brand was underdeveloped and sounded like a Wells Fargo Bank give away item, i.e. old smelly saddle bags.
Back in the day, people bought Gucci bags. Some who wanted to be different, bought maybe Fendi. Or Channel. Then Luis Vuitton made a big push from their luggage line into handbags, capturing a large part of the high end bag market with their distinctive olive LV logo print bags. I always thought they were ugly, but they were status symbols, not fashion.
Like most luxury goods, designer goods, just like fancy perfume and Nike shoes, you are paying mostly for marketing costs, not materials. These companies pay huge amounts of marketing dollars to create their brand. They open stores up in key global locations, catering to those who can afford their prices first, but then mass marketing that into a brand name to get the upward mobile, status hungry acheiver age group to buy into wanting it. And if you can get the Asian population to like you, then you’re on you’re way to success, since most Asian cultures are group based cultures with stratified pecking orders, where status, position, connections, pedigree, purity, quality and the latest fads and keeping up with the Suzukis, Wongs or Kims all buy into your brand building.
So quite awhile ago, Coach changed from its great high quality leather craftsmanship only image, to a pumped up international brand image, and the success has followed. Now, Asians and other status seekers all over the world seek to buy Coach bags. You don’t see Gucci or Fendi much anymore on young ladies, and sure there are a ton of other brands fighting for the next generation of status seeking women’s attention, even US designers.
But Coach makes a quality bag, and even though they are coming out with designs to compete with the more bright colors and younger demographic, they are, in my opinion, rooted in quality leather.
But to buy a Coach bag, I would go to the outlet stores in California when they are having a sale. These in Waikiki, are catering toward the Asian tourists, who need to buy Omiage (gifts) for their relatives back home within a 1 week trip. At the outlets, the lines are long during sale time; here, if you want a more personal shopping experience, you certainly get it, especially if you are a Japanese tourist with an LV bag, ready to switch.

As far as Coach stores go, this one ranks at the top in terms of staff and store layout. Coming from Las Vegas where there seems to be a Coach on every corner, I found the staff in this store to be exceptionally friendly. They all seemed to engage in speaking with their guests, providing helpful tips about the area, ie. where to eat, drink, general directions etc… as well as help out with all the products in their store.
Once again, I can not help but reiterate how friendly and knowledgeable the staff is at this store. You guys rock!

Nick thought I needed a bag to match a wallet he bought me on one of his work trips. It’s Coach. Like all the other designer stores on the strip, it’s nothing less except there was a sales lady there that was hungry for a sale.
Calm down, lady! It really put a damper on our shopping experience.

I’m not only rating this one coach store in Hawaii… I’m rating all the ones in the waikiki area with five freakin’ stars!!!
The level of customer service at all of these coach stores was excellent, they really know the meaning of «world class service». I have been to the coach stores in san francisco, and around the area, and they are not quite as helpful and nice as the people were in Hawaii.
Who knows, maybe it’s just because they are happier… who wouldn’t be happier living in paradise?