BOOT CAMP: Getting to know the stores in Hawaii, Contest day 3

Is there one store that you haven't tried out yet?  Walgreen's took the longest for me to figure out- it's newer and I wasn't used to the Register Reward [RR] system. 

Hawaii has it's own unique local stores: Foodland/Sack-n-save, Times Supermarket (recently acquired Star market) Tamura's Market, and Long's Drugs- with all stores having locations on Oahu and only some stores on the other islands. There are also smaller chains on the neighbor islands- we couldn't get by without Friendly market on Moloka'i or Sueoka's on Kauai and Hasegawa store on Maui. We also have some regional and national chain stores: Safeway, Costco, Sam's Club, Whole Foods, Walmart, Kmart, Target and Walgreen's. 

Each have their own programs and policies:

Foodland/Sack'n'Save
Locations: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Big Island
Membership card: Maika'i (Rewards are given after $200 in purchases- can be used toward travel points, products and 5% off purchase)
Sale schedule: Weds-Tues, view their ads or from store/Midweek
Coupon policy: accepts manufacturer's coupons, can use B1G1 coupon when they are having a B1G1 sale on same product.
Bonuses: Catalinas (money back) and coupons after purchases, sometimes certain stores have special insert sheets in Midweek

Times Supermarkets
(recently took over Star Markets)

Locations: Oahu, Kauai, Maui (20+ stores)
Membership card: none
Sale schedule: Weds-Tues, found online and in the Midweek.  
Coupon policy: accepts manufacturer's coupons
Bonuses: Weekend sales are pretty good ones to look for.  Ad sometimes has manufacturer's coupons (did you get the $1/2 Kraft singles in last week's?)

Tamura's Market
Locations: Wahiawa and Hauula, plus other stores in this family chain
Membership card: none
Sale schedule: Every 2 weeks: Weds- 2nd Tues, ad found in Midweek only
Coupon policy: accepts manufacturer's coupons
Bonuses: Also can find manufacturer's coupons in their ads.  Ex: Powerade came to about $.60 each with their sale and in-ad coupon.

Long's Drugs
Longs was recently bought by CVS (2008), but it is still run under the name Longs because of the tradition that it stand for to local families. 
Locations: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Big Island
Membership card: none
Sale schedule: Sun-Sat, ads in Sunday paper
Coupon policy: accepts manufacturer's coupons
Bonuses: They don't do the CVS Extra Care Bucks [ECBs] weekly, but you can build your points and redeem them Quarterly.

Safeway
Locations: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Big Island
Membership card: Club card
Sale schedule: Weds-Tues, Sun-Tues. Paper ads in Sunday paper with some in-ad couopns, view their ads online or pick up in store while supplies last.  Comes in Midweek- certain areas only -not mine :(.
Coupon policy: accepts manufacturer's coupons with store coupons and eCoupons.  They also have an official coupon policy to print out and keep with your coupons.  It specifically states they do not accept coupons for B1G1 without a purchase being made and FREE items.
Bonuses: Catalina deals- which is money back when certain products are purchased and also gives out coupons after payment- usually on new products or similar items to what you just bought. 

Costco
Locations: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Big Island
Membership card: yes, annual fee- $50
Sale schedule:
Coupon policy: There are coupon booklets they send out to members that are good for about a month at a time.  No manufacturer's coupons are accepted, but they will take formula checks that are mailed and written out to you.
Bonuses: Meat and dairy are very hard to beat anywhere else.  Because of the convenience of bulk shopping, we like to compare our prices to Costco to make sure we are getting the best deal possible- this is something we are working hard to do more often in our store ad posts.    

Sam's Club 
This is the store I know the least about- don't have membership.
Locations: Oahu
Membership card: yes, annual fee- $40
Sale schedule:
Coupon policy: No manufacturer's coupons.  There is a program called eValues: offers are loaded directly onto your Plus Membership card, and the discount is automatically applied at the register.
Bonuses: Click'n'Pull: set up your purchase online, then pick up at the store.  Looks like a great tool- anyone know if this works in Hawaii?

Whole Foods
Locations: Oahu, Maui
Membership card: no
Sale schedule: Every 2 weeks: Thurs-2nd Weds. Ads can be downloaded in .pdf from their website
Coupon policy: They also have their own printable coupons
Bonuses: Organic foods

Walmart
No Super Walmart in Hawaii (some grocery, no meat/produce).
Locations: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Big Island
Membership card: no
Sale schedule: Sun-Sat, ad in Sunday paper
Coupon policy: They have a coupon policy to read and print out as well.
Bonuses:  Walmart has a great price-matching policy, as long as you bring in the ad from the other store with the better price.  You can also use a coupon with the price-matched items. 

Kmart
No Super Kmart in Hawaii
Locations: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Big Island
Membership card: Shop Your Way Rewards (also good at Sears), earns % back 
Sale schedule: Sun-Sat, ad in Sunday paper
Coupon policy: Manufacturer's coupons accepted
Bonuses:  This is the only store I've heard that doubles in Hawaii periodically, but it's a very particular process: with membership card, only 5 coupons, up to $2 in value.  They do have some great dollar deals though.

Target
No Super Target, Target is the newest chain to Hawaii.
Locations: Oahu, Big Island

Membership card: no
Sale schedule: Sun-Sat, ad in Sunday paper and
Coupon policy: Target-only coupons are available that you can print from home and use with a manufacturer's coupon.
Price Matching!
Bonuses: Some of their best deals work when you get a Target gift card back.  These don't expire in 2 weeks like Catalinas or RRs do.  Text OFFERS to TARGET and get the Mobile Coupons sent to your phone.

Walgreen's
Locations: Oahu, Maui
Membership card: none
Sale schedule: Sun-Sat, ad in Sunday paper and online (extras at stores)
Coupon policy: Manufacturer's coupons accepted and stacked with Walgreen's coupons and Monthly coupon booklet
Bonuses: Register Rewards [RR]- one same deal per transaction, then reward can be used on next purchase but expire in two weeks.  This is why I usually do my RR deals in the first transaction and then use the RRs to pay for the remaining non-RR items.
What got me in their store was seeing on some mainland blogs that we had the same prices and sales on most items and how many of them I could get for under $1 and even free.

It is always important to know each store's coupon policy and might want to print and keep them with you in case there are cashiers or managers who aren't aware of it.  

Most sale prices in Hawaii reflect a $.50-$1.00 raise in price for some items (cereals, snacks) and canned food, meat, dairy can go up even more compared to mainland prices. The lowest I've seen for a gallon of milk in a long time is $4.99. Canned veggies and fruits are good at under $1 a can and soups under $2 a can are also a deal.

 

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Contest time! 

 

*Day 3 is a questionnaire

(leave your answer and your email in comments or email to alohadeals@gmail.com): 

What 3 stores you shop at most? 

What one store did you learn something new about and want to try? 

What else do you want to learn on Aloha Deals?

 

*Also go SUGGEST THIS to your friends through the Aloha Deals Facebook page- 20 new friends per day!

Savvy shopper Saturday- getting to know the Grocery stores, prices and coupon scene for Hawaii

Hawaii has it's own unique state-wide stores: Foodland/Sack-n-save, Times Supermarket (recently acquired Star market) and Tamura's, with all stores having locations on Oahu and only some stores on the other islands.  There are also smaller chains on the neighbor islands- we couldn't get by without Friendly market on Moloka'i or Sueoka's on Kauai and Hasegawa store on Maui (sorry Lilo- wrong island).
Foodland/Sack-n-Save has a member card called Maika'i, anyone can apply and after $200 of purchases combined, you are given a Maika'i reward to redeem for different things.  They have catalina machines for coupons to use in future puchases.  New sales start each Weds-Tues.
Times doesn't require any kind of member card for sale prices. Weds-Tues ad.
Tamura's also doesn't require any member cards.  Their store ads run for a 2-week period.  Weds-2nd Tues.

We have some region stores: Safeway/Vons and Costco (I don't think it's national). 
Safeway has the Club card- anyone can apply.  They have catalina deals- which is money back when certain purchases are made and also gives out coupons usually on new products or similar items to what you just bought.  Weds-Tues with special Sunday ad usually only for Sun/Mon/Tues.  This is why Mon/Tues are the best days to shop and get two overlapping sale ads in effect.
Costco is a bulk shopping warehouse with a paid membership card.  Because of the bulk shopping, we like to compare our prices to Costco to make sure we are getting the best deal possible.  Meat and dairy are very hard to beat anywhere else.

Longs was recently bought by CVS, but it is still run under the name Longs because of the tradition that it stand for to local families.  We don't get the CVS register rewards.

We also have national chains: Walmart, K-mart, Target (since 2009), Walgreens. 
Walmart has a great price-matching policy, as long as you bring in the ad from the other store with the better price.  The have sales running from Sun-Sat.  No Super Walmart in Hawaii (some grocery, no meat/produce)
No Super K-mart in Hawaii either, ad in Sunday paper runs until the next Saturday.
Target puts out its own printable coupons, some are even manufacturer coupons and can be used anywhere, but there are also Target-only coupons.  Ad is in Sunday paper and found online, good until the following Saturday.  No Super Target, but does have a main grocery section.
Walgreens puts out their own coupons every week on Sunday and also has a printable page online and a monthly booklet.  Back at the pharmacy area, there's another booklet called "Diabetes and You" but that is mostly for the articles in it, there are other coupons in there as well.  They will accept one of theirs- which is usually a price per item and a manufacturer coupon- which can take additional money off of the same item.  They have money-back deals called Register Rewards- one same deal per transaction, then reward can be used on next purchase.  Their weekly ads also run Sun-Sat.

It is always important to know each store's coupon policy and might want to print and keep them with you in case there are cashiers or managers who aren't aware of it. 

Most sale prices reflect a $.50-$1.00 raise in price for some items (cereals, snacks) and canned food, meat, dairy can go up even more compared to mainland prices.  The lowest I've seen for a gallon of milk in a long time is $3.99.  Canned veggies and fruits are rarely under $1 a can and soups under $2 a can is a soup-er (haha) deal. 

This leads us to some expensive food shopping so every bit of savings counts.  The Sunday Honolulu Advertiser has the store ads and inserts, but they aren't always as stocked as the previews show and sometimes we don't even get whole inserts.  Are we really that different?  If anything, we have more need to find ways to save money and not have these taken away.  We can also access Coupons.com and other coupon printing sites to get at least 2 coupons worth of savings on items.

Which brings me back to why I started this blog- I figure if we had a place to gather and share what someone else might have missed, we could all benefit from the help.  Each week I'll post for each store either all the sales or highlight the main deals and then you can leave anything I missed in the comments section to show us what you're excited about and others can get ideas also.