Daiso - Japanese Household Goods — Attraction in San Antonio

I have mixed feelings about this place. I recently got back from a trip to Tokyo, and I’ve experienced Japanese shopping. This is not that. It’s an American version of what Japanese shopping is supposed to be. It looks like another “dollar store”, but filled with Asian products. Most items are from China, but other products are from Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, etc. They DO have Japanese products and I’ll touch on that in a bit. This place is lacking that Japanese flash! If they made this franchise more like Don Quiote, the place would always be packed (It’s basically Japan’s Bucees). It’s too American and needs to be more Japanese.

They do have a “jingle”, which is a thing over there, so they recovered some points for that! That actually made me smile to hear a Japanese companies jingle, haha.

Here’s where the store won me back because I was beginning to turn my back to it. The Japanese have a thing for journals a stationary. I keep a personal journal and I take it with me everywhere. They have an impressive selection of Japanese notepads and pens here, and most of those products ARE from Japan! They also carry a few Japanese office supplies and a ton of scrapbooking and journal accessories. I also noticed they have seasonal washi tape. Not really my style, but they have washi tape and stickers.

As I was checking out, they have a cold beverage display by the registers. They have Pocari Sweat and Coffee Bro products!! This place won me. I don’t care for 99% of this store, but the stationary section and the beverage options will keep me coming back.

Corporate needs to change this place completely. They really need to lean into a Don Quiote-esque approach. Sales would skyrocket. A broader selection of Japanese beverages would be amazing. Oh, they have a cool pricing system here. They display the prices in both Yen and USD. I like it, but it’s severely inaccurate.

Overall, I like it. I’ll be...

This Japanese dollar store is a delight! Filled with all sorts of items for the home and garden, school, pets - as well as Japanese snacks and foods and drinks - you will surely find something you can't live without.

All the prices are marked in yen but there are placards posted everywhere with the conversion to US dollars. Items not marked are all $1.75! And I would say that 40% of the items in the store are not marked.

The quality of the items was surprisingly excellent and we found things I would never have expected like beading needles and large sketch books and gorgeous socks.

Definitely worth a visit. Most likely...

Daiso’s in Japan have top notch items. The merchandise on these shelves are all the items that don’t get sold in Japan! Not to mention the prices in yen are not the prices being sold in the US. I was told at the checkout the increase in prices is import costs. Instead of paying the fees they expect consumers to pay more/the difference!! For example 200¥ should be less than $2 but at the register it rings up at $4.75! Last and only time I will be...