Shopping: New Daiso stores, lead-free gear

30 Responses to “Shopping: New Daiso stores, lead-free gear”

1. suneeta Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 9:27 am

   Hi,
   I just wanted to thank you for a wnderful blog and for sharing all your tips with us. I was just about to head out to Daiso in Daly City (40min.) for the first time when I read your post about the new one in MV! That’s only 15 min. away. And thanks for the coupon code for Reusablebags.com. I just started reading your blog and my kids lunches have already improved dramatically. We LOVE the Lock-n-lock boxes available for $3.50 at Target. Thanks!

2. Lengthfour.Com » Shopping: New Daiso stores, lead-free gear Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 9:29 am

   [...] wrote an interesting post today on Shopping: New Daiso stores, lead-free gearHere’s a quick [...]

3. suneeta Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 9:37 am

   oops…I called and the MV store is not yet opened. They are running behind and plan on early October. Guess it’s Daly City then.

4. katherine Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 9:49 am

   ooho! a REusable Bag code! I’ve been meaning to get a few things from them recently, so glad that I procrastinate!

   Thanks

5. FUYU Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 10:06 am

   Oh wow! I didn’t even know the MV store opened yet!! I’m heading there today then!! XD I wonder if the MV one is bigger than the one in SJ though. Thanks for the heads up Biggie!

6. Beanbean Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 10:14 am

   Oh, MAN! I want a Daiso in Denver! Wahhh!! (Maybe whining will make them build one! LOL)

   I wonder if there are plans to put a Daiso in the North Bay somewhere…San Rafael or Novato. That would be cool.

   Still counting the days til Ichiban Kan goes online with their mail order store.

7. Jessica Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 10:22 am

   Yuhoo, Daiso!!! There are people living in Europe too, although I can see that they might have some issue with establishing a customer base. However, they could start small, with a selected assortment of, lets say, convenient bowls, BENTO boxes for sure, and other every day things that are not just very Japanese if you get what I mean with that. I miss alot of convenient things from Japan although I am an airhead at presently so can’t really give you any examples.

   For years though swedish stores sucked at catering to a growing mid-eastern immigrant population. Then stores began to discover that wow, they shop too (!) so now more and more stores are adding mid-eastern foods to their stores. Some have whole sections dedicated to “foreign” foods. Now when it is ramadan it is quite noticeable in many of the chain stores that wouldn’t have given it a second thought some years ago. I read about a year ago that this store, that had an Iranian employee told her boss they should sell these cookies and pastries that are special to ramadan. They settled for a taking in 6 boxes of each pastry. Rumour spread, cookies and pastries were sold out in a day.
   And me, that is into all kinds of food, roam around those shelves, look and see and then take it home, google and then cook it. A travel in its own merit :).

   So Daiso! Head over here. Scandinavia preferably!

8. Biggie Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 10:39 am

   @3 from Suneeta: I’m so sorry about the false alarm on Mountain View!! Thanks for checking it out; I’ll be more careful about independently confirming things like this in the future. I’d be interested in your feedback on the store once they open, though!

9. Biggie Says:
   September 28th, 2007 at 10:43 am

   @5 from FUYU: Stop, wait!!! Suneeta called the MV store and evidently they’ve had to delay their opening until early October. Save yourself a trip!

10. Biggie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 10:45 am

    @4 from katherine: Hooray for procrastination! Unfortunately, I’m also good at procrastinating — it’s great when that accidentally turns into a plus, isn’t it?

11. Biggie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 10:46 am

    @6 from Beanbean: That would be great if they opened something in North Bay, wouldn’t it? It would fit their apparent M.O. of opening numerous stores in one metropolitan area at a time.

12. Biggie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 10:52 am

    @7 from Jessica: As you say, eventually big stores figure out that growing minority populations have money to spend like everyone else, and figure out ways to capitalize on that. I wonder if Daiso is banking on the large Asian population on the U.S. West Coast to go to the stores and use them to spread via word of mouth.

13. Tam Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 11:22 am

    I think they are opening one by the new Marukai in Cupertino too…that’s much closer to me

14. freecia Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 11:45 am

    Sorry on the incorrect Mtn View info. The checkout lady in the San Jose store told me it was open, so I thought it would be. Alas. (I might have mistyped the address as 505, but I believe you linked to the correct addr at 550.)

    So sad. No daiso for me tonight.

15. FUYU Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 1:41 pm

    YIKES! I was so excited about it because even though I’m in San Jose, it’s actually closer to me than the one at Eastridge Mall (It takes 30-40 minutes to get there from my house!).. I was thinking of heading over to the MV one after I picked up my daughter, but as I was driving to pick her up, I became hesitant and decided to go this weekend or something. Now I’m glad that I didn’t go!! hahaha

    If what Tam says is true about the one opening in Cupertino — EVEN BETTER!! Horray for more!! I’m glad it’s such a success here in America! Hopefully they’ll have more than one storie floors eventually like the ones in Japan.. wishful thinking… XD

16. FUYU Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 1:52 pm

    BTW this might be some good news for your east coast readers– MUJURUSHI is opening in New York (check out muji.com). I LOVE MUJI (but they might turn out different than the ones in Japan lol…). I took a look at the European online site, and saw that they sell bento goods (although not much). Hopefully they’ll come over here also… I’m still waiting for famima to come over here alreaaaady!!!!! It’s been in LA forever (I heard that the bento/food is americanized though…) .. but hasn’t made it’s way here yet!! WHY!?!! *has a fit*

17. Shie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 6:02 pm

    Thanx so much for the coupon! I had a great excuse to order the Laptop lunch box set! lol~
    I live on the east coast, so I’m not as lucky as all of you guys over there…there aren’t much stores around here that sells bento boxes and accessories. So I have to make do with what I have available here. Thanx again!!

18. Biggie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 6:57 pm

    @13 from Tam: Great info about the Cupertino store! If you happen to notice that it’s open, feel free to leave a comment or shoot a note so everyone knows!

19. Biggie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 6:59 pm

    @14 from freecia: No worries about the info; I should have double-checked it before posting anyway. Still, thanks for the heads up — it’ll be open soon, now everyone knows!

20. Biggie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 7:05 pm

    @15 from FUYU: I’m so glad you didn’t go to MV today! (Sorry to anyone who did, BTW.) I’m jazzed that they’re opening more stores around here, although that must be frustrating to folks in other areas without Daiso… I like Mujirushi as well — simple design, good prices (at least for Japan, don’t know how competitive they’ll be in the States — we’ll see).

21. Biggie Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 7:08 pm

    @17 from Shie: Glad the 20% off coupon worked for you (both in actual discount and rationalization to buy yourself fun gear)!!

22. neverenoughjam Says:
    September 29th, 2007 at 1:11 am

    I was heading out to Ichiban Kan in San Mateo when I saw your post about the new Daiso in Union City. Hit that instead and it was fabulous! Came home with three huge bags of stuff for less than $21. My only problem was that the bento boxes they had were child-sized; I could not find any adult-size boxes but what the heck. I’ll experiment with these little ones. They were about $1.50 apiece; such a steal! And they had the teensy little sauce/dressing bottles I’ve been looking for. I’ll definitely be going back. Thanks for the tip!

23. colleen Says:
    September 29th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

    I found the lock n lock boxes at target today…they were $3.96 each for the square one with the 4 small containers. they have several to choose from.

24. Biggie Says:
    September 29th, 2007 at 4:42 pm

    @22 from neverenoughjam: Cool that you were able to hit the Union City Daiso, but too bad about the child-sized bento boxes. You can always double up to make one proper meal, but it is a pain to kludge together something when you know there are appropriately sized boxes out there. Keep looking! Both Daiso and IBK carry those 600ml two-tier boxes (a variety), depending on branch and when you hit them in their inventory cycle.

25. Biggie Says:
    September 29th, 2007 at 4:44 pm

    @23 from colleen: Ooh, score!!! That’s great info for people without Asian stores nearby (plus Lock & Lock stuff is just well designed and reasonably priced anyway). I’ll add store info to my photo on Flickr too in case folks stumble across it.

26. Sile Says:
    October 1st, 2007 at 7:02 am

    Have you heard any news on the Ichiban Kan online store? Are they still on for next month? From the way you plug Daiso, I almost wish THEY had an online store! I need to move to California! haha.

27. Biggie Says:
    October 1st, 2007 at 9:49 am

    @26 from Sile: I asked them a few weeks ago if they were still on, and they said yes (but no firm date). I’ll pop in and ask again this week, and post anything remarkable (i.e. if they’re still on schedule, no new post from me). You’re not the only one who wishes Daiso had an online store! They’re really good (and I have no commercial affiliation with them, BTW, just think Daiso and Ichiban Kan both rock at low-price, decent quality household stuff).

28. sea Says:
    October 5th, 2007 at 8:31 am

    Daiso is the best! We lived in Chiba City for 2 years and have some very fond memories. I think DH and I went to the Daly City Daiso in the first week it opened- and then my friend Masumi and I went to the San Jose store on opening day. You might say we’re hyaku en shop fiends. Thanks for the updates- the MV store is close to my house so I’m dying for it to open!

    -Sea

29. Biggie Says:
    October 5th, 2007 at 10:18 am

    @28 from sea: Hey, you’re “SeaMaiden”, right? We’ve actually e-mailed each other about three years ago when my husband was going through his gluten-free thing (misdiagnosed, long story). You helped me clear a list of Japanese food products as being GF — thanks!

30. Natalie Says:
    November 20th, 2008 at 10:25 am

    Hi- I just wanted to let you know that this code for 20% off is no longer valid.

    Thank you!
    Natalie

Leave a Comment