Minor things Kailua Kona (Hilo: sales, hair salon, amusement park)

[LadyDay1]

I'm moving in a few months and have a few things I need help with and I looked everywhere

First is a hair salon, my friend recommended me one but I would need a weave done and the salon only does tape i weaves and not sew in. I've looked but while most say the specialize in African hair I still need one that can do sew in weaves or African hair braiding.

I have s daughter she's three but I wanted to have a place where she could interact with other children when I grew up in Oahu I had an advent camp I went to is there anything like that.

Best place to shop. My friend does a lot of online shopping so she's no help

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Best place to shop for what? Depending on what you want to buy, sometimes options can be limited. That's why we all do a lot of online shopping.

There aren't many posters here who live in Kona. I suggest that you also post on a site called Konaweb to find your hair salon.

[hotzcatz]

Sorry, can't help you with the hair although folks are a lot less dress up around here than on the mainland. Usually our fashions are several years behind as well, providing the style even makes it out here.

Generally, from what I've seen, kids play with the neighbor's kids or they meet up at the beach or a park to play. Kid sees kid and they gravitate to each other and end up playing, it's just generally what happens when there's kids near to each other. Otherwise, when adults gather for whatever social occasion, the kids will interact at the same time. Generally those are the slightly older kids, though, and there's usually someone keeping an eye on them they don't just hang out all by themselves.

Best place to shop for what? Kailua-Kona side, generally for groceries a lot of folks like Costco, KTA and farmer's markets. There's the usual spots of K-Mart, WalMart, Ross', Macy's and Target for clothing. There's several fabric shops and a lot of boutiques for better clothing. Home DePot, Lowe's & Ace for hardware. Couple of furniture stores over near Costco, not sure of their names since we don't pay retail for furniture very often.

Due to the high turnover of population, there's scads of good stuff on the resale market. Folks are here for six months and buy something to use, then sell it for a fraction of the price. They move here and find cockroaches in 'Paradise' and run away leaving most of the container full of stuff they shipped over here still here. Although, frequently that's because they moved over here expecting to find a comparable job with comparable pay to what they had on the mainland and the job is at half pay and the living expenses are twice as much so frequently they can't afford to ship everything back again.

So, depending on what you're looking for, it will be at one of several different places. The other thing with living on an island 2,500 miles away from any other large supply depot is that if you see it and you want it, get it right away since it may not be there when you come back and they may not bring it in again.

Online sales have helped that a lot, before the internet getting specific things here was meager indeed, but there's still the additional shipping costs to factor in. IF THEY WILL SHIP TO HAWAII AT ALL. Frequently, they will tell you they don't ship internationally. Also, they only want to use one specific carrier and UPS & FedEx rates to Hawaii are astronomical. So, when shopping, don't shop for a specific thing such as 'Jimmy Choo black sequin sandals' go for 'some sort of shoes to wear' and you'll be much more likely to find something. Shop what's there, not what you're looking for.

Hmm, come to think of it, the folks that do the best moving here are the ones who enjoy and enthuse over what's here and don't moan about what's not here. We don't have about three quarters of the usual restaurant chains, we don't have major shows or museums, we don't have a major amusement park. No subway, no trains, no rail. There's some buses now, that's an improvement. Most areas of the island don't even have pizza delivery. But we do have our own sense of place, great outdoors, beaches, people and weather.

[LadyDay1]

Thanks so much for the the responses and sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I was liking for things to finish my house, I have most of the furniture but I don't have things like rugs, outdoor stuff nothing big I just didn't want to have to spend my worrying if my bedding didn't get here in. I'll also look at Kona Web.

[whtviper1]

Try yelp

[steiconi]

For new furniture, I like Teak and Bamboo. Or maybe it's Bamboo and Teak, I forget. I go to their Hilo store, but they have one in Kona, too. Selections improve when they get a new container in, so chat up the workers and shop often.

For used furniture, there are 2 or 3 dealers at the Kona International Marketplace with furniture and decor items. I was impressed with their selection and prices.

I've seen ads for the Kona Habitat for Humanity Restore--looks like they have nicer furniture than the one in Hilo.

Gray's Furniture now seems to specialize in vintage and refurbished pieces.

And check Craigslist frequently, of course. And look for moving sales; when people leave, they sell pretty much everything, sometimes at huge cost savings.

Ross often has furniture, too.

[Jane M]

Craigslist for house stuff. or the Kona International Market. However, if you don't want used, Kaloko furniture has some really nice stuff, but it is very expensive. Is cost an issue or no? House stuff is pretty expensive here. There is also a Walmart and a Target.

[Joliefille]

I was amazed at some recent online purchases from Target. I got free shipping on some pretty large furniture. You have to add it to your cart before you find out if the shipping is free or not, but definitely worth the time. Same with Amazon. Lots of things say free shipping until you add the Hawaii zip.

[steiconi]

Target ships free (even here!) if you use a Target charge card.

[LadyDay1]

It's not really a cost issue, trust me when I say I have been saving up for years but I'm driving my self insane with checking to see if everything is accounted for. I just wanted some good options especially knowing me I'll forget something. Thanks for all the extra replies