A beloved Japanese value store, which already has roughly 200 locations in the U.S., is preparing to open several new locations in the coming weeks. That’s on top of the more than two dozen they’ve already opened this year.
Daiso bills itself as being a “one-stop-shop” for “household needs at an extraordinary value.” That includes storage items and DIY supplies, according to the company, as well as stationery, snacks, beauty essentials, stuffed animals, decor, and school supplies. And don’t forget a leftover-soup solidifier, blind boxes (sorry, no Labubu here, but there are accessories for your little monsters), oddly specific cleaning products, and merchandise from Disney and Sanrio, the latter of which owns the rights to Hello Kitty and her friends.
The company got its start in 1972 in Kagematsu, Kagawa, Japan. Then, Hirotake Yano and his wife ran a street vendor business known as Yano Shoten. According to Daiso’s anniversary webpage, prices for the items sold would vary, causing customers to frequently ask how much products cost. Eventually, Yano said everything was 100 yen, or about 68 cents in U.S. dollars today.
The company was later renamed Daiso as it expanded into its first permanent store in Kagawa, though it was more often called 100-yen Shop Daiso. It quickly grew and expanded internationally in the early 2000s. The first U.S. Daiso opened in Seattle in 2005, with all goods selling for less than $2, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
Since then, most of Daiso’s American stores have opened in California, Washington, and Texas, as well as the New York City and Chicago metro areas. Outside of these states, stores have also opened in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin.
Earlier this year, Daiso opened 33 stores across 14 states:
- Tucson, Arizona – Old Spanish Trail Marketplace
- Aliso Viejo, California – Commons at Aliso Viejo
- Arroyo Grande, California – Five Cities Center
- La Quinta, California – One Eleven
- Redding, California – Churn Creek Marketplace
- Reseda, California – Victory & Tampa
- San Ysidro, California – San Ysidro Village
- Aurora, Colorado – Village on the Park
- Centennial, Colorado – Cherry Knolls
- Fort Collins, Colorado – The Pavilions
- Alpharetta, Georgia – Saddlebrook
- Fayetteville, Georgia – Fayette Pavilion
- Bloomingdale, Illinois – Bloomingdale Court
- Crystal Lake, Illinois – Bohl Farm Marketplace
- Niles, Illinois – Civic Center Plaza and Pointe Plaza
- Olathe, Kansas – Olathe Pointe
- Crystal, Minnesota – Crystal Town Center
- Maplewood, Minnesota – Birch Run Station
- Woodbury, Minnesota – Woodbury Village
- Brentwood, Missouri – Brentwood Pointe
- Chesterfield, Missouri – Chesterfield Commons
- Albuquerque, New Mexico – Cottonwood Commons
- Edmond, Oklahoma – Shoppes at Edmond University
- Tulsa, Oklahoma – South Roads
- Corvallis, Oregon – Corvallis Crossing
- Gresham, Oregon – Oregon Trail
- North Richland Hills, Texas – The Crossing
- Mont Belvieu, Texas – Mont Belvieu Crossing
- Clinton, Utah – Park Plaza
- Midvale, Utah – Fort Union
- Provo, Utah – Riverside Plaza
- Kenosha, Wisconsin – Southport Plaza
Another 11 stores across six states are on track to open before the year ends, according to the retailer’s website:
- Fayetteville, Arkansas – Market Court
- Jonesboro, Arkansas – Caraway Plaza
- Modesto, California – Central Valley Plaza
- Palm Springs, California – The Springs
- Salinas, California – Harden Ranch Plaza
- Aurora, Colorado – Southlands Shopping Center
- Clearwater, Florida – Countryside Centre
- Miami Gardens, Florida – Gardens Promenade
- Miami, Florida – Flagler Park Plaza
- Shawnee, Kansas – 10 Quivira Plaza
- Laredo, Texas – Rio Norte
The Fayetteville store, opening on August 9, will mark the company’s first in Arkansas. Arkansas-themed tote bags will be handed out to the first 200 customers who spend $20, Nexstar’s KNWA reports.
“It’s very unique,” Greg, a Daiso employee, recently told Nexstar’s KTVX when asked about what customers can expect at the retailer. “The collection and the assortment of items we have here, you’re probably not going to find anywhere else in town, and people love that.”
If you’ve never been to a Daiso store, you may notice a few things, like signs that read “Threeppy.” In those sections, Greg explained, the items are 300 yen (about $2) or more, hence the “three,” and meant to make you happy, explaining the -ppy. You’ll also likely see goods priced in yen, with conversion signs placed around the store to understand how much items cost in U.S. dollars.
Everything starts out at $1.75, Hunter Archer, a store manager at the recently opened location in Edmond, Oklahoma, told Nexstar’s KFOR earlier this year.
If you purchase the wrong item, however, you’ll have to hang onto it. Daiso says it has no return or exchange policy, unless you find out it’s defective or damaged within a week of purchase and still have the receipt.
Daiso did not respond to Nexstar’s request for additional information, including an inquiry regarding any future store openings in the U.S.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
