Daiso

A Daiso store in Japan

Daiso's first North American store, at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, British Columbia

Daiso or The Daisō (ザ・ダイソー) is a large franchise of 100-yen shops in Japan, owned by Daiso Sangyo Corp. (株式会社大創産業, kabushiki gaisha daisō sangyō). Its headquarters are in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Daiso has a range of over 100,000 goods, of which over 40 percent are imported goods, many of them from China.^[3] Many of these are house-brand goods.

History

Daiso was originally opened first as a street vending shop dealing with 100-yen products known as “Yano Shoten" by Hirotake Yano in 1972. He later founded Daiso in 1977.^[4]

Business method

Daiso often uses such locations as previous pachinko parlours for its retail outlets. They spend a lot of money on shelving and fixtures to help the stores compete with more high-end retailers. The stock of items retailed at each shop is varied frequently in order to increase repeat customers.

Daiso categorizes all its own-brand items on sale using the morpheme za (ザ), the Japanese representation of the English word "the", plus a category. For example, za hanabi (ザ・花火) is the category for fireworks, and za purasuchikku (ザ・プラスチック) is the category for plastic items such as plastic buckets or trays.

In 2004, Daiso also started selling items priced at multiples of 100 yen, such as 200, 300, 400 or 500 yen.^[4]

Locations

Daiso has 2,500 stores in Japan, 975 in South Korea, and 522 stores overseas in Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, and Vietnam.^[5]

Australia

The first Daiso store opened up in Abbotsford, Victoria in 2010, selling thousands of items at a flat rate of $2.80.^[6] Since then it has expanded to seven stores in New South Wales, three in Queensland, and eight in Victoria. The stores range from 133 m² (1,430 sq ft) to 1,067 m² (11,490 sq ft) (Melbourne Bourke St store), which is currently the largest in Australia. Stores in Melbourne are found in Highpoint Shopping Centre, Doncaster Shoppingtown, Richmond, Chadstone Shopping Centre and Swanston Street in Melbourne's CBD. The Chatswood Mandarin Centre, Merrylands, Sydney CBD/Haymarket, Blacktown Westpoint Shopping Centre and Parramatta Westfield Shopping Centre (opened July 4, 2013) are the locations for Sydney. All items are AUD$2.80. Except for those that are sold at a higher price $3.80 - $6.80.

As of 2014, three new Daiso stores have opened in Craigieburn Central (Craigieburn Shopping Centre), Westfield Shopping Centre in Airport West and Macquarie Centre in Macquarie Park.

In 2015, there was a new store in Central Park Mall in Broadway, Sydney.

Canada

In December 2003, Daiso opened a 2,400 m² (26,000 sq ft) store in Aberdeen Centre, in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Most items sold in the store (Daiso products plus a small selection of Japanese foods and beverages) are CAD$2 each. "This store is to be our springboard to launch Daiso's operations across North America," said Roy Fujita, director of the company's international division.^[7]

Malaysia

There are 39 Daiso stores in Malaysia that are located in malls, including in Johor (AEON Mall Kulaijaya, Bukit Indah), Kuala Lumpur (AEON AU2 (Setiawangsa), AEON Taman Maluri, Avenue K, Sungei Wang Plaza, Leisure Mall, Mid Valley, Pavilion KL, Publika), Melaka (AEON Bandaraya Melaka, AEON Melaka (Ayer Keroh), Mahkota Parade), Negeri Sembilan (Palm Mall), Pahang (East Cost Mall), Penang (AEON Mall Bukit Mertajam, AEON Queensbay, Gurney Paragon, Gurney Plaza), Perak (AEON Mall Taiping, AEON Ipoh Station 18, AEON Seri Manjung), Sabah (1 Borneo, Suria Mall), Sarawak (Boulevard Shopping Mall), and Selangor (AEON Bandar Baru Klang, AEON Bandar Utama, AEON Bukit Tinggi Store, AEON Mahkota Cheras, AEON Rawang Anggun, AEON Taman Equine, The Curve, IOI Mall, One Utama, Paradigm Mall, Setia City Mall, Sunway Piramid, The Main Palace, The Mines).^[8] All products are priced at RM5.30 GST-inclusive.^[9]

Singapore

There are twelve Daiso stores in Singapore. The stores are located in the following malls: Vivocity, IMM Mall, Plaza Singapura, ION Orchard, Tampines 1, Rivervale Mall, Bukit Panjang Plaza, Sembawang Shopping Centre, Chinatown Point, City Square Mall, Parkway Parade, Kallang Wave and Waterway Point (latest opened in January 2016). All products are priced at SGD$2.

South Korea

Daiso Korea owns 975 stores across the country,^[10] which was established in 1992 as the Daiso-Asung Corporation. Working in cooperation with Daiso Japan in 2001 (until 2011), the chain has proliferated over the last 10 years by using a low cost-high quality strategy. Each store stocks over 30,000 items and most are under 1,000 won. Daiso has an online shopping mall that allows people to purchase the same items at home.^[11]

In 2011 and 2014, Daiso Korea announced that they were no longer part of Daiso Japan; they claim that Daiso Japan was trying to promote the Dokdo Islands, known as Takeshima in Japan, as part of Japan. Daiso Korea confirmed that they were not selling the products Daiso Japan was selling and that they were acting as a different company.^[12]

Daiso Korea has a unique logo compared to the rest of the Daiso Corporation. The modified logo is used inside the country to rebrand itself as a more modern company and to show its break-off from Daiso Japan.^[13]

United States

On October 2, 2005, the first store in the United States opened for business in Alderwood Mall located in Lynnwood, Washington near Seattle, WA. This store is much smaller at only 442 square meters (approx. 4,750 square feet), and items were originally one of three prices, $1, $1.50, & $2 (all USD). The current inventory now includes packaged food and items are now priced up to $8, though most items are at the $1.50 price point. Daiso officials have said they plan to open more stores in the United States.

In August 2015 Daiso will open its first store in Texas at the Carrollton Town Center in the DFW area. They plan to open 20 additional stores throughout Texas.

There are over fifty stores in the United States: seven are in Washington, and over forty in California. The largest U.S. Daiso is located in Union City, California, which has 17,760 square foot (1,650 square meters) of floor space and opened on August 8, 2007. A total of 15 to 20 locations are planned for the entire San Francisco Bay Area in the future.^[14] Daiso has also opened stores in several other SF Bay Area cities: Daly City, Berkeley, Cupertino, Milpitas, Newark, San Jose, and San Francisco's Japantown Alameda and downtown. Daiso opened its first Southern California store in Torrance and now operates in Irvine, Gardena, Anaheim, Monterey Park, Hacienda Heights, Artesia, Los Angeles, Lake Forest, Temple City, Northridge, Buena Park, Chino Hills, San Gabriel, Stanton, Santa Ana, Lakewood, Arcadia, Garden Grove, West Hills, Tustin, Orange, Westminster, Long Beach, San Dimas, Fullerton, Rowland Heights and San Diego. In Gardena, Marukai Corporation U.S.A. carries Daiso products at bargain prices. Of the seven locations in the Greater Seattle Area, including the original Alderwood Mall store, Westfield Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, The Commons at Federal Way, Westlake Center, Chinatown in downtown Seattle, and Crossroads Mall in Bellevue.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daiso.

• Official website (Japanese)
• Daiso English
• Daiso Australia
• Daiso Canada
• Daiso Middle East