Daiso
Category: Home & Garden [Edit]
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa8111 Balboa Ave
(at Mercury St)
San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 384-0420
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
35 Reviews for Daiso
i LOVE Daiso. I heard of them being up in the Bay Area, so I literally squealed when i saw it driving down Balboa. As soon as i walked in, i made a mad dash to the Kitchen wares section, to fill my cart with Bento Accesroies and all its goodness. No more online ordering for me!
Other than that, Daiso has lots and lots of Knick Knacks for 1.50. Housewares, stationary, children's toys, and lots of other stuff. If you're not careful, you can easily spend ages just browsing all the stuff down the aisles. Always time well spent
I heart Daiso!!! The shop is jam packed full of Japanese merchandise ranging from kitchenware, stationary, and gifts-the variety is just Ridiculous! (in a good way of course). Just as the other reviews have said, it's CHEAP but way better quality than your everyday 99 cent store (most of the items are $1.50). Ten Dollars or less can go a long way here. I always manage to find myself walking out with a mass variety of knick-knacks. A definite must to check out. You shall not be disappointed. OH-Don't forget to stop by the Marukai Market next door to pick up some delish Japanese snacks.
Arigatou gozaimasu!
It's cheap, it's cute, it has Japanese merchandise. I enjoy browsing through their aisles of wonders, from microscopic toys to their imaginative kitchenwares. They also have cute animal mugs that will make your lady friends squeal with joy. In all seriousness though, sometimes you still get what you pay for.
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I love this place!!! I have to drag myself away or I could spent the whole day there looking at all the cheap, Japanese knick-knacks. Almost everything is $1.50. At that price, you can't expect TOO much, though. I got some stationary that would $3-$6 at Kinokunya. I'll be going back really soon for some cute bento boxes.
So looking forward to going to Daiso after hearing so much about it. I was hoping to go to one when we next visited the Bay Area (they only started opening these AFTER we moved away) but when I found out there was a Daiso here in SD, I was floored. I just HAD to go and check it out.
Well, it's quite small and is along the same caliber as the Marukai 99 cent store in Fountain Valley AFTER the renovations. Before the renovations, Marukai's selections were just outstanding! Now, most of the stuff is junky with one or two hidden gems here and there.
We were very excited though to find these teabags we've been looking for all over the place. We bought them from Ichiban Kan in San Mateo in the Bay Area and they were so useful for loose teas, for making dashi, etc. We ran out only a few weeks ago and so we were very very happy to find them here and for a really reasonable price too!
Be aware that not every item is $1.50 and some are higher.
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This place is super fun and mega cheap. As has been mentioned before, a good portion of the stuff is $1.50. This includes tons of plastic storage containers, cat toys, a pair of child's flip-flops with robots on them, pig shaped ice cube molds, and a ton of rather nice dishes. Seriously, next time I move my roommate is taking a bunch of her dishes with her, and I think I am going to come here for bowls and glasses and stuff. The only thing I've purchased so far is a ridiculous plastic plate featuring a "cooking bear" and the phrase, "Best friend forever in my heart bears wish you have a good time." There's a bear with a chef's hat and a pot on it, and it's compartmentalized for kids that don't like the food touching or something. Notably, while there are some actually nice things there that are a dollar fifty, this strange plastic plate was $3.00, which is kind of hilarious.
This is also the place to go if you need a statue of an owl, or a mug with a map of The London Underground, or basket, or a hat, or a paper umbrella, or pots and pans, or . . . you get the idea, they have an odd assortment of stuff. Check it out!
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Thanks Albert for pointing the way.
Can you make a left turn from the plaza entrance on Mercury? It doesn't seem safe, but I do anyways.
I've been here twice, after eating at nozomi's and after eating at tapioca express. Both times I probably spent a hour in this store, not because I wanted to, but because of my friends and who were freakishly amazed at everything...(ahem Maria, average time in the lead/pencil/pen aisle= 15 minutes, no joke)
it IS like the 99 cent store but less 99 cent and more $1.50. If I didn't live at home, I'd probably by bowls and tupperware from here since it's so cheap.
I still have to bring my mom here. :D
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This is the best place. I have been to this place when I was back in Japan. Price seems to be little bit more expensive than it was in Japan, but it is still lot cheaper than buying same type of products at other stores. Like, I bought sponges for cleaning dishes. It was $1.5 plus tax for 12 sponges!
They basically have everything imported from Japan.
I would recommend to everyone.
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Finally a store in San Diego just for Japanophiles! Daiso is the everything a $1.50 store equivalent to the U.S. 99-cent store! Plus what's great is now Murakai Living store is open and you can consider that the everything else which isn't a $1.50. Which means you can obtain beautiful Japanese products from less or more than a $1.50, and the food market part just opened too. All these 3 stores are in one convenient shopping center too.
When I went to Japan in 2002, the 100 yen stores were starting to open. I loved shopping in one so much. Helped me so much with my Japan travel budget. Now I have the savings here in San Diego too. Daiso saves me the plane ticket fare to Japan! Banzai!
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This is practically better than ANY 99 cent store in the city (yeah, even though it's $1.50, not $.99)
I enjoy stationery and knick-knack type stuff, so i really, really LOVE it.
There are some cheap-ass things (quality-wise), but they seem so much more charming than the american crap available elsewhere.
My favorite sections are stationery, kitchenware, plastic organizing section, health/beauty.
I want to spend all of my money there - is that a bad thing?
The worst thing is TOTALLY the bad parking and the location on the corner of a hugely busy intersection. What the heck?
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I came in here looking for and needing nothing. I walked out with $30 (approx 20 pcs) of random, adorable crap. Namely: garden gloves, an elephant shaped cookie cutter, some gift bags with poorly yet adorably translated english on them, some really cute/colorful 'wall pockets' to help organize my house, random sewing supplies, a very narrow clipboard for no reason except the shape surprised me, tiny tiny envelopes...
Other things to be found at Daiso:
Lots of really charming wood toys for children. If I knew any children who would dig playing with wood toys, I would have bought them in a heartbeat. Potpourri stuffed into fabric tomatoes and other plush vegetables to be arranged in a basket as per a fruit bowl on your toilet. Lordy lordy lordy, plastic baskets in every size, shape and color imaginable. Flights to Singapore.
Basically, it's my new favorite store ever.
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Great! but I was expecting bigger? No actually It was bigger than I expected I just wanted bigger. "More!! more!! i need more daiso! " I wish i would have gotten more markers! great for illustration.. next time i go ill like get everything.. I got a cute calculator here, theyve got pastel colors! The deco tape is cute and has see through shapes! didnt have as much bento stuff as i would have liked.. but yay! Oh yeah, and the little black cat stickers are amazing (My mp3 player is so cute!) Spent lots of money on cute random stuff. fun! the banks are sure here too, You can actually save 100,000 yen ( i think) in a tiny metal can! amazing!!!
"Mooshi-Mooshi," was heard around the store from various employees to greet our intrepid hero as he shopped for items in this Japanese take on a 99 cent store. Everything (unless otherwise marked) was sold for $1.50, which was fairly good for some of the housewares but not for most of the food. Garbage cans, tupperware, lucky statues, tatami mats, belts, and all sorts of knick-knacks can be found here for bargain hunters or Japanophiles alike. The store's layout was a bit cramped, but efficient, much like the many value-oriented trinkets the store sells. Our hero even noticed a desk for Sankei Travel in the store as well, which probably didn't sell vacations for a $1.50 (but you could ask anyways).
PROS:
- Cheap items
- Wide variety of offerings
CONS:
- Quality of some items are dubious
- Crowded store layout makes finding items you have in mind difficult at times
- Limited parking
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Mostly junk in here, of dubious quality and certainly no better than items at a typical 99 cent store. Just because it's imported and the packaging is in Japanese does not mean it's high quality. That being said, there are some good hidden finds in here.
It's the perfect place for white elephant parties (the portable plastic toilet comes to mind), gag gifts, and the beauty aisle is a drag queen's dream come true. Anyone into organizing or scrapbooking would probably like it too.
Friendly note to the cashier whose name starts with 'M' -- If a customer approaches the "wrong" cash register, the right way to direct him to the correct register is to say "Sorry, could I ring you up over on this side". Do NOT snap your fingers and point to the other register AFTER he's put all the stuff down.
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The Daiso(s) in the Seattle area pale in comparison to this place! I'm a kawaii collector, so any place I can get cute stuff for $1.50 is a definite plus in my book. I purchased soooo much stuff for only $20, it was great! I bought an extra bag for my trip home, all kinds of cute notebooks, pens, even thread & needle for mending stuff on the fly. After the Daiso, I hit up the Maruki Living store neaby. Just a wonderful shopping experience!
Do you like cute things for cheap prices? Get on over to Daiso!
Everything is $1.50 unless otherwise marked. All nice Japanese random stuff. I could shop around for hours.
A set of three small tupperware - $1.50!
A black belt - $1.50!
Bamboo mat - $1.50!
A small screwdriver set - $1.50!
Cute ceramic rice bowls - $1.50!
Scissors - $1.50!
You get my point. Random stuff = $1.50.
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Daiso makes for enjoyable shopping for just about anyone especially 3 types of people: frugal, pack-rats, or the obsessive organizer. Since I'm all of the above, I enjoy the shopping here. This is one of the VERY few places I can go shopping and buy everything I want and it still comes out under a dub.
The store is still new and well stocked and organized. Most of the items are $1.50/each unless otherwise marked. There's tableware, dishes, decorative items, kitchen supplies, office supplies, cleaning supplies, toiletries, gardening equipment, and more! Daiso has some similar products to Organized Living, so check here first and you may find it for much much less.
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The Japanese version of America's 99 cent store, but it's fricken so much better! For a buck fifty, you can find just about everything here - stationary, kitchen supplies, hardware, dish ware, gardening supplies, sunglasses, etc. Good decent quality stuff for a fraction of the price elsewhere. The store is clean, very organized, and the staff is extremely courteous. I had so much fun in the store :)
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I went here today, its kinda cool but it just reminded me of a Pic N Save or a Joe's 99 Cent Store, Japanese style, with better quality all around.
I will be back, especially during Christmas.
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This is a very nice, kinda like $1 store but pretty much everything is $1.50 (some are higher). Comparing to other 99cents, $1 shops, this place is very clean and organized not to mention it DOESN'T make you feel like you are in a cheap store:). I come here very often to find ceramics (wonderful variety), stationeries (cheap!!!) and some kitchen stuff (LOVE bento stuff! CUTE!!!). The staffs are EXTREMELY helpful and so friendly. LOVE this store.
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I live on the other side of the 163 from this place. This is one of my favorite places to shop for stuff. Recently, I've bought a ceramic carafe and cup for some warm sake (that I could buy down Mercury Street at Mitsuwa) and some Ray-Ban-like sunglasses for "100 yen" each. This is way better than the 99-cent stores because...
-no raunchy smell, especially in the stale food aisle (but Daiso doesn't have a food aisle unlike the adjacent Marukai).
-even though the products of both store are mostly made in China, Daiso has more high-quality stuff than the 99-cent stores.
-it has better toys than the 99-cent store. Have you seen the toy section of the 99-cent store?
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can anyone say KAWAII??? I must have wandered around here for more than an hour looking at the cute bowls/plates/dishes etc. It's so cheap!!! Then came back the next day w/ Mike and bought more asian style bowls and cups. Some of the stuff is cheap quality, but cute, nonetheless. This reminds me of the Marukai in LA, but with less selection.
On recent trips to Japan, I have to say that almost all my daily needs could be met by Daiso, the largest chain of 100-yen stores (though they now have a few items at 200- and 300-yen) in Japan. Almost any household item is available, along with snack foods that sell for 300+ yen down the street at the local konbini. I often found myself at Daiso twice a day.
People often ask me about the case I use for my laptop computer. While similar cases sell for $20 or more in the U.S., mine was procured at Daiso for, you guessed it, 100 yen.
At home here in San Diego, all my Japanese dishes, teacups, and chopsticks were purchased at Daiso for 100 yen each. For more on Daiso, see the Wikipedia entry.
So I checked out the Daiso shop this past weekend. Although it seemed fairly well stocked (nothing compared to the 3-story Harajuku store of course), I was disappointed that they didn't have any of my favorite Daiso items:
- A4 and Wide A4 soft cases (these work great as 100-yen computer cases). They did have the smaller B5 cases.
- tea pots with filter
- reading glasses
- metal tea canisters
- 300-yen retractable computer cables
Note that 100-yen items are $1.50 and I was able to pick up a few things like a compass that's all in Japanese.
This store is basically the same as the "Marukai 98-cent Store" format used in L.A., but as one of the managers explained to me, they felt "98-cent store" sounds too cheap and the Daiso name is well-known throughout Asia these days, so they decided to go with the Daiso name for this store.
The Marukai Living and Marukai Supermarket buildings won't be open for a few months. But when they do open, I expect parking to be a huge problem. There are very few spaces in the lot for that amount of retail traffic.
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I just went shopping at the grand opening today, and I'm amazed not only at the quantity, but the quality of most of the merchandise in the store compared to other "99 cent and up" value stores. Everything that isn't hardmarked with a price tag is assumed at $1.50, including some pretty durable, traditional, Japanese kitchenware. Each one of the staff was very friendly, and since it was the grand opening I'm guessing they purposely overstaffed.
I purchased some kitchenware and office/school supplies, and yes, my weak points are stationery and "kawaii" products, which I also bought for $1.50 each. Don't expect full-on Hello Kitty/Pucca type stuff right off the bat; this *is* a store that runs the gamut of a typical 99 cent store, not a Sanrio surprises.
The location is right on the corner of Balboa and convoy, literally a minute off the 163. Not hard to miss. I'll be frequenting this place often, so hopefully this rating won't degrade!
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Great prices, a bit weird walking around on the squeeky, improperly laid flooring, but good to get rubber containers, etc.
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I am a sucker for anything Japanese. This place is an alternative place to get whatever you can buy at an ordinary 99 cent store. The main difference is that everything is $1.50 unless marked higher and everything is made in Japan. The excellent merchandise, friendly staff, and clean environment make this economical shopping stop fun.
I bought $45 worth of stuff here. For $1.50 each, I made a lot of students happy. You see, I need prizes for my best students. They love piggy banks (quasi-Sanrio). They also have cheap Sakura gel pens. However, these pens have ink that is somewhat runny. I don't care. It makes writing fun. Since I always lose pens at $1.50, who fricken cares!
It doesn't smell like Big Lots or Target either-that nasty, cheap smell. I bought combs, a ceramic turtle, and reusable cloth lunch bags. I like the tupperware containers. they are small and for some reason when i heat rice dishes in them my rice stays very moist and fresh. maybe i just want to BELIEVE that so i feel better about using 3-4 at a time.
i like the stationary and am going to go back for more. if you are a teacher, this is the place to buy plastic bins of all sizes and paper trays.
Update 12/3/07 Don't buy greeting cards here. They say wierd things like "Birthday Happy Cheer", "Special Friend Sweet", and "Milk+Sugar". Lesson learned: Read the card!
Update 6/12/08 I bought $3 costumes for students. One pig, one dog and one frog costume. Hilarious. They also have those refillable soy sauce containers for your bento lunch and those "hobo" cloth bags which hold a nice sandwich.
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I love DAISO! I am so glad they finally opened one here in San Diego. I've been to Daiso stores in Bay Area, Seattle, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Japan. It's a Japanese chain $1.50 store that's crossed over to this continent. One thing I cannot get enough of is bento box and bento box accessories! This is the place to go if you like making your own lunches in that cutsie Japanese bento box way.
Finally! Ok, not as super awesome as the 100yen stores in Japan but still filled with a lot of great cheap stuff.
Yes you will need to sift through some useless junk but the cool stuff here are indeed COOL.
They don't have public restrooms so go relieve yourself before. I don't know what it is with 99cent stores and my bladder..
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Hot dog -- This place gave me sensory overload! Lots of cool stationary and containers, all for cheap. Everything has an adorable mascot and neon packaging.
Got my son some wacky Japanese coloring books and some sketch pads for myself. They also have some cheap plant stands I'm gonna go back for (those things are, like, ten bucks each at Ikea even; these cheapies ought to sufficiently support my frail plants).
As others have said, nothing top quality, but nothing ramshackle. Recommended.
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good for:
housewares and lucky cat statues.
i think my expectations were a bit high with all the raving i'd heard about daiso. walked out with origami paper and some nail polish remover. i thought the origami paper was squares, but turned out to just be strips. bummer.
i'd probably raise the star amount if they had more/better stickers. all i could find was disney princess crap.
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This will be my favourite shopping spot.
EVERYTHING little things you may need for you home... you will find it here.... at $1.5 each!
Don't expect top quality stuff, but things they sell are definitely NOT JUNK.... many of them are very useable, at fraction of the price....
I see myself not going to Walmart or Target anymore......
Go Daiso Go!!
PS. When I have a chance, I'll take some pictures of some of the great "products" I found there.... I guaranteed that you will LIKE them....
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For months now, I had been secretly hoping to visit the Bay Area to...see friends and family? WRONG! To visit Daiso of course! So when I heard that they were opening in San Diego, you can imagine how excited I was. I raced over there as soon as I found out that they were pre-opened before their grand opening.
Anyway....I knew even before I set foot inside that I would be one of those foolish people who bought all sorts of tchotkies just because they were cute or just because there would come a day when I would be in need of a tiny little mug with japanese writing and cute pictures of kittens on it. I purposely left my husband at home to browse the endless knick knacks that this space holds. It seems like they have crammed every inch of the store with some kind of strange or delightful japanese inspired creation.
So, if you're wondering what the damage was of my first visit, it was $30 of cups and bowls, rubber gloves (b/c they were pink), a cute kitchen rug, tupperware, soapdish, and some anti-slip rug sticker thingys.
Personally, I think Daiso is worth a visit mostly for its kitchenware and kitchen gadgets. The other stuff was either cheap looking or written in Japanese and completely foreign to me. This store is loads of fun to browse and I will surely visit again soon.
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I've gotten compliments on my lunch boxes for years, and I will have Daiso to thank for many more years of lunch boxes eyed over with envy by co-workers.
This place, as so many have noted, sells most items in the shop for $1.50. This includes an amazing array of bento boxes and bento supplies (note: many of the actual boxes are more than $1.50, but still very reasonably priced, confirm this on ebay if you like). I picked up new boxes, reusable sauce containers, food separaters, small forks and straws suitable for fitting inside the bento box, bento box carrier bags and...my favorite: egg molds! They sell these little molds that one slips a warm boiled egg into, that snap shut for a few minutes and form into the shape of a star or a heart. $1.50 for 2 molds. It's a good way to get a picky eater to eat some boiled eggs.
Elsewhere in the shop are vast displays of bowls, cups, platters, and cheap toys and makeup and household supplies.
Parking will be tight when Marukai food shops open, and sometimes it's a little hard to discern whether the item at Daiso is $1.50 or a slightly higher price. But chances are, if it's unmarked, it's $1.50.
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update:...just went in and actually bought stuff at the daiso. it was great, you can find so many unique and cool stuff with a japanese flavor. wow, it's true unless it's marked with an actual price, everything else is $1.50. great stuff.
pros...this is a great place if you like plastic things...for the car, kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom, office, school, hallway, dining room, garden, etc. it is just a cool place, you can get just about anything except food in there. there is something for just about everyone that likes plastic. i was very tempted to buy just a whole basket load of stuff since it was very reasonably priced. oh they even sold a soroban, japanese style abacus (i have a weak spot for them). but not everything is made in japan, actually very few of the products are, mostly made in the middle kingdom, oh sorry i mean china. and speaking of china, they have a great selection of japanese ceramics too. great place, now i have to bring the wife. and it's across the street from mitsuwa.
cons...can't you just see it, he is going to say parking...and yes parking will be a very big issue for this place. there are going to be two more stores in the very small and tighly spaced parking lot. besides this not much else in the way for cons...but can't wait for the other two stores to open, it will be a marukai grocery store and one of the furnishing stores. now i don't have to drive up to torrance.
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