Le Sportsac

These stores and their customer service stink! I bought a cute purse two months ago and it has already ripped at the seams. I went to exchange it and ask why it did this. They said that they couldn’t authorize an exchange without a manager and there were no managers at the two stores I went to. The clerks barely spoke English. I think that they cater to the Japanese tourists. This Haole was not treated well at all. I will not buy a purse there or buy this brand ever again. It is garbage.

This is the flagship store so the selection (two floors!) is the best in Waikiki (I’ve been to about 6 of them all around the island). I got a crossbody bag in a colorful print for under $ 60, so I was pretty happy about my choice (I was considering one of the exclusive to Hawaii prints, which were an additional 20% off). I first started with the bottom floor working my way up. I liked the second floor’s offerings much better as the more vibrant ones were upstairs (I do like my colors, I’m not a basic black kind of girl anyway).
The salesman was super nice, and we were talking quite a bit with him. When we mentioned that back home, there was an outlet, he knew where we were from! He said there aren’t too many LeSportsac outlets around.
After shopping on the island for many years, I’ve narrowed down shopping to a minimum, but one purchase, for the past couple years anyway, has been at the LeSportsac store. So, when we come back, of course, we are stopping here, too.

I have no issues with the Le Sportsac bags themselves. The store was clean and I was greeting upon walking.
My issue is that when I walked in to the store on Dec.12, 2012 I was told that they were running 40% off of the Small World mermaid print. It was very foolish of me not to ask what the regular price of the mini backpack was and I assumed that the guy at the register applied the discount. I assumed the total amount that I paid of $ 85.03 was the discounted price. Again, shame on me for not asking or knowing the prices to begin with. I was recently at Disneyland looking at the latest Le Sportsac design and I noticed that the price of the mini backpack was $ 78. What? Thats the regular price?!
Unfortunately I no longer have my reciept from my purchase in Waikiki but I checked my bank statement. Sure enough. With my total being $ 85 I was not given the 40% off that was told to me when I walked in to the store. Is it possible the guy forgot because it was busy? No. There was only one other customer in the store at the time I was there.
Lesson learned on my part and shame on me for not asking what the regular price was and for not checking my receipt before leaving the store. Shame on the store for «neglecting» to give me the discount. Am I going to shop here again? No.

I’m not a Le Sportsac fan but this store made me question my loyalty. I love the cute Hawaiian girl print and they had a new shipment of a cats with ruffles on the cosmetic pouch. I was so tempted to buy the cosmetic pouch for $ 24 but ended up just window shopping. The other girls in the group ended up buying a cute Hawaiian print weekend bag. The sales guy was very friendly and definitely smooth. He was a smooth talker and he told us his experience with the bags and how much space we really needed. He was trying to upsell but he was not pushy or overly aggressive.
I checked out both levels and the sales items are in the corner on the 2^nd level. There are plenty of choices of different prints — I’m privy to simple prints (polka dots, cats, hearts, basic colors). I saw a lot of items that I want especially the Melina pouch wristlet with a mirror. It’s big enough to hold the necessities and comes with a mirror. Very cute and exclusive just to Hawaii. It came with a heft price tag ($ 58) and I had to pass. Lots to see and I’m sure you will walk away with something.

I have seen #LeSportsac bags at Macy’s and always thought that they were the sort of thing a retired teacher or librarian would carry their essentials in (read: my mom and her mom).
After walking through Waikiki for several days, I was amazed by the brand’s footprint. There, wedged between Chanel, Prada and Ferragamo was little old LeSportsac. Apparently, other Americans are less-​than impressed by the ripstop parachute nylon bags too, because as I peered through the little windows, I noticed that all of the merchandising was in Japanese. My curiosity got the best of me (after 5 days of desperately trying to ignore the mini-​stores) and I decided to go in. What did Japanese fashionistas know that I did not? A lot, it turns out.
Son and I went inside the store and were warmly greeted. We met our sales guy who was not at all pushy. He proceeded to share (since most signage was in Japanese) detail after detail about the bags. He informed me that the Wahine Hula print that I admired was exclusive to Hawaii and Guam, and showed me several bags and their features. I had visited the Swatch store earlier in the day to see the island-​exclusive Swatch – and was underwhelmed – so I was pleased to see LeSportsac’s nicely designed prints. My introduction to the bags left me impressed by the little pouches that came with the bags – who wouldn’t want a bag that could fold up and fit snugly inside a mini pouch? I purchased a coat earlier in the winter from Patagonia for the same reason!
It turns out, the bag I liked was reversible, washable, sized to fit a laptop, and had an inside and outside pocket. The only thing it was missing was a zipper (note to manufacturer if you are reading this – how about a magnetic closure?). When I settled on a style, the sales guy was as sweet as can be. He then whipped out three bags, laid them out on the counter and helped me study the prints to decide which one had the best design on it – we reviewed each option to see which pattern looked the best, and he reviewed each pattern and taught me how to select a print that had the best design characteristics. Who knew? I learned more about the brand (bag made in TN), and customer service (man was informative and patient, not at all pushy) during that visit – and to think I had just planned to purchase a Wahine t-​shirt!
I ALMOST checked out with a tote bag… BUT just as I was about to check out, a regular customer stopped me to ask me if I had been to the second floor to see a discounted hula print. Recessionista that I am, I dragged my child upstairs and checked out a second floor of bag-​dom. Most of the prints up there were on sale and there was a really friendly lady up there. She introduced me to LeSportsac’s «Artist in Residence» program and showed me a few of the bags. I found a Hula Girl Wahine bag, on sale, and decided, to buy two bags. One with a zipper and one without. Once again, the upstairs sales lady selected three bags, laid them out and taught me to study the prints. Together we picked a bag and I went downstairs to pay.
Overall:
1. The customer service in the store was bar none some of the best I have received – Ferragamo might be the only store that I have ever shopped that did it better – and that’s saying a lot. The sales people were patient, kind, informative, and happy employees of the store and the brand. They could have cared less about the amount of money I spent in their store – they were just happy to be of service.
2. The bags exceeded expectations. I have been carrying my bag for a few days now, and I have found the bag to be sturdy, adorable, and large enough to carry my essential items in with ease.
Highly recommend!

Double Decker Le Sportsac in the Ala Moana area.
Great selection and I bought one of the Exclusive prints that is only sold in Hawaii. I couldn’t find this print at the Honolulu Airport Le Sportsacs (perhaps it was just retired). I love my bag, good quality, a little pricey, but last a long time and now I have something that will always remind me of my trip to Hawaii!

I’m Unilocaling this now but it’s because I got to use my Le Sportsac bag that I love recently on vaca, which reminded me to Unilocal about it. Went to Hawaii for the first time in awhile and wow has it changed! Lot’s of retail stores are on Waikiki, which doesn’t surprise me. Seeing Le Sportsac and Coach, Chanel in Hawaii is kind of different. Reminds me of Santana Row in San Jose or Melrose in LA. But I know there’s got to be some kind of way to generate money for the economy here.
I passed this bag so many times on the island that it kept telling me I had to taking it back with me. I returned to this store so many times, just to look at it. Ladies you know the convo you have with yourself «Should I get this? Do I need it? Will it hold my stuff?»
I started with the first floor. And the sales folks are so down to get your whatever print you’re looking for and style. I like their prints, so many different kinds to choose from. I made my way upstairs and had a great conversation with the saleguy who is actually from the SF Bay Area! He told me that these designs were exclusive to Hawaii, and that I wouldn’t find them in Nordies or wherever on the mainland. I didn’t really appreciate that until my trip to NY where this bag was my bff! And looking closely it has Hawaii written hidden in the print. So for that, gotta love Le Sportsac Honolulu…

The «Double-​decker» Le Sportsac
Seeing that the Ala Moana location (
) failed to magically find the bag that the girlfriend wanted, she suggested one of the most improbable and terrifying thing for locals to do… go into Waikiki. If you talk to anyone who has worked in Waikiki, to see a local shopping is like seeing Bigfoot.
«The picture on the security tape is fuzzy, but I’m sure that’s a local!» exclaims the security guard.
For this location is a wonderland for the Le Sportsac freak in your family. Pretty much all the stuff on the menu including the exclusive to Hawaii line is located downstairs, upstairs is just a bonus. They have nice small bags which are good for small gifts to people back home.
We parked in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center parking structure where you can get validation at any of the stores in the complex. We were wandering the area for about two plus hours and only had to fork over $ 2 for parking.

I believe this is the two-​story location, where I had shopped earlier this year.
Large selection of bags, and one of the staff members helped me find a gift for my mom. They can usually pull out different designs of bags if you can’t find what you’re looking for. Upstairs, there’s an area for the more general designs you can find at stores on the mainland, but downstairs is reserved for local-​only designs. Good stuff. Pricey, but good.