Daiso has a range of over 100,000 products, many made in China or Japan,[3] focusing on household items such as kitchenware and cleaning products. Daiso has locations in 25 countries and regions worldwide.
History
Daiso was originally opened as a street vending shop 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. The items at each shop are varied frequently to increase repeat customers.[citation needed]
Daiso categorizes all of its own branded items using the morphemeza (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 and trays.
In 2004, Daiso started selling items priced at multiples of 100 yen, such as 200, 300, 400 and 500 yen.[4]
Locations
Daiso has 3,620 stores in Japan, and nearly 2,300 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, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, and Vietnam.[5][6]
The first Daiso store opened up in Abbotsford, Victoria in 2010, selling thousands of items at a flat rate of $2.80.[13] Since then it has expanded to 13 stores in New South Wales, 14 in Queensland, three in South Australia, 12 in Victoria and 2 in Perth (at Westfield Carousel and Lakeside Joondalup). The stores range from 209 m2 (2,250 sq ft) to 1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft) (Midtown Plaza, Melbourne store), which is currently the largest in Australia. Almost every item is AUD $3.30, or US$2.33, except for a small range of products (5% of total range) that is sold at varying prices from $3 to $15.
Bahrain
Daiso's main store in Bahrain is located at Dasman Center, Manama, and spans two floors. It has been in operation since 2005.
Daiso also has a smaller outlet at Ramli Mall, A'ali. As of 2007, most products cost BHD 0.600, or US$1.58.[14]
Daiso opened its first corporate Canadian store on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia in April 2021, with plans to expand nationally.[15] With the opening of its Surrey location in March 2023, there are now four stores within Canada.[16]
A franchise store, owned by Fairchild Group, was operated in Richmond, British Columbia from 2003 to 2019, when it was rebranded under Fairchild's Oomomo banner. Oomomo has continued to sell some Daiso products, but this supply will be discontinued as Daiso expands.[15]
Cambodia
There are three Daiso Japan locations in Cambodia. All products are priced at about US$1.90.[17] As of 2018, its new name in Cambodia is ”DAISO JAPAN Life Coordinates Store”.
Malaysia
Daiso in Malaysia
All products are priced at RM 5.90, or US$1.43 GST-inclusive. The price increase from RM 5.30 to the current price was effective from March 1, 2017.[18] The price was temporarily reduced to RM 5.57 when GST was removed in Malaysia, but 8t returned to RM 5.90 when SST (Sales and Services Tax) became effective on September 1, 2018.[19]
Singapore
There are 27 Daiso stores in Singapore, together with 11 Threeppy stores and one Standard Products store. Minimum pricing is $2.16, followed by 14 tiered increments. The first and largest flagship Daiso store is located at IMM.
South Korea
Daiso Korea owns 1,150 stores across the country,[20] established in 1992 as the Daiso-Asung Corporation. Working in cooperation with Daiso Japan from 2001–2011, the chain has proliferated over the last ten years using a low cost / high quality strategy. Each store stocks over 30,000 items; most are under 1,000 won, or 0.87. Daiso also has an online shopping mall that allows people to purchase the same items at home.[21]
In 2011 and 2014, Daiso Korea announced that they were no longer part of Daiso Japan, claiming that Daiso Japan was trying to promote Liancourt Rocks 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.[22]
Daiso - South Korea
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.[23] In December 2023, Daiso Korea announced that it had bought back its shares from Daiso Japan (34.21% stake reportedly worth around 500 billion won), effectively making it fully Korean-owned.[24][25][26]
On October 2, 2005, the first Daiso store in the United States opened at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, near Seattle, Washington. This store was much smaller at only 442 square meters (approx. 4,750 square feet), and items were originally priced at $1, $1.50, and $2 (all USD).[27] The inventory was expanded to include packaged food and items priced up to $8, though most items remained at the $1.50 minimum until a 25-cent increase in 2022.[28][29] The Alderwood store was moved to a new mall location in 2015 and off-site in 2017.[28][30]
There are four Daiso stores in Hawaii operated by Daiso Hawaii. On December 12, 2018, Daiso Japan opened its first store in Honolulu, Hawaii, and opened two others on March 14, 2019 and January 20, 2022.[32]
In June 2017 Daiso was forced by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to recall 165 products in Australia. These included toys which could pose a choking hazard or injury and beauty products with unknown ingredients.[35]
In June 2022, Crocs filed a lawsuit against Daiso, accusing them of selling foam clogs that allegedly resembled theirs and violating copyright trademarks.[36]
