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Video by Dennis Oda and Kristen Consillio / doda@staradvertiser and kconsillio@staradvertiser.com
Hawaii shoppers lined up Wednesday for the opening of Hawaii's first Daiso store at the Pearl City Shopping Center.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Shoppers wait for the first Daiso Hawaii store to open at the Pearl City Shopping Center.
Several hundred people lined up this morning to be the first shoppers at Daiso’s first Hawaii store at the Pearl City Shopping Center.
The 5,000-square-foot Pearl City store is the first of three or four planned on Oahu by HouseMart, the parent company of Ben Franklin Crafts and Ace Hardware, which has an exclusive licensing agreement to open Daiso stores in the islands.
Another store in Honolulu is slated to open early next year, and at least one location on each of the major neighbor islands is also in the works, said Wayne Kamitaki, CEO of HouseMart.
The Japanese discount retailer opened at 11 a.m. after a blessing, taiko drum performance and speeches by co-owner Kamitaki and the Consul General of Japan Koichi Ito.
The company sells everything from beauty products and household goods to Japanese snacks and stationery. While known as the “Japanese dollar store,” Daiso products cost $1.50 to $3.
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