Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Beginnings of Daiso Japan Store


            Daiso Japan Store is one of Japan’s most popular and largest retail stores. It is known to be the largest 100-yen store in Japan that is owned by Daiso Sangyo Corporation. It originated in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture. Over 100,000 products are on the store, 40% of which are imported and many of 
them are from China. But most of the products are their own brand.

            Daiso is far different from other similar retails stores because they prefer not to sell closeout factory second merchandise. Instead, they keep the prices of the products low by purchasing directly from 
manufacturers in very high volume, a strategy often compared to Wal-mart.

            The store uses store parlors such as pachinko for their retail outlets. Pachinko is a popular gaming device in Japan that resembles a vertical pinball machine. The company spends a lot of money on shelving and fixtures to come up with better marketing strategies to compete with more- high end store retailers. The stock  
of items at each store is varied frequently to in order to increase repeat customers.

            Daiso categorizes its own-brand products on sale using the morpheme za, the Japanese representation of the English word “the”. This helps in the ease of product arrangement and avoids customer confusion when looking for products.

            In 2004, Daiso started selling products priced at multiples of 100 ye, such as 200, 300. 400, and 500 yen. Products vary from children’s clothing to large toys.

            The Daiso Japan has 2,500 stores in Japan alone, and over 500 branches are overseas: Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Canada, UAE, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Romania, Australia, and USA.

            In December 2003, Daiso opened a 2,400 square meter branch in Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Most items in the store is sold at 2CAD$ each.

            Two years later, the store opened its first branch in the US in Alderwood Mall located in Lynwood Washington near Seattle WA. This store is much smaller than the previously opened store in Canada. All items range from 1$- 2$ only.

            A total of twelve stores in the USA: three in Washington and eight in California. The largest Daiso store in the USA opened in Union City, California. In August 8, 2007, it opened its 17,760 square foot store. A total of 15 to 20 locations are planned for the entire San Francisco Bay Area in the future. Daiso has also opened its store branches in several other California cities such as Daly City, Berkeley, Cupertino, Milpitas, Newark, San Jose, Mountain View, and San Francisco's Japan town.

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