Discount chain Daiso opens second store in Honolulu

Daiso quietly opened a Hono­lulu store Thursday with little fanfare as word started spreading on social media.

The popular Japanese discount chain opened its second Hawaii store at the corner of Young and Piikoi streets just three months after beginning sales in December at the Pearl City Shopping Center, which had seen more than 2,000 customers daily in the first weeks of operation and consistently had lines out the door.

“I’m excited ’cause when we went to the Pearl City one, we couldn’t even get in,” said Makiki resident June Yamanaka, who was buying handkerchiefs, bath towels and cute “umbrellas that I see on the movies.” “It’s awesome. You can’t beat the prices here. It’s cheaper than Don Quijote and Ross.”

“Oh, I love the store. I love the crafts and stuff ’cause I’m a crafts person,” added her daughter, Tashar Justiliano.

Camille Salvador, who also lives in the area, rushed down to be among the first shoppers after learning of its opening on Instagram live.

“I just got out of the shower, and I asked my boyfriend to drop me off really quick,” said Salvador, who filled two baskets full of “random stuff,” including reusable bags and other small Christmas presents for her co-workers. “It’s affordable and I live five minutes away. It’s just fun to shop … for random cute stuff.”

The Honolulu location at 1024 Piikoi St., with about 20 parking stalls, has limited hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday as it ramps up staffing. Permanent store hours will be announced later.

HouseMart, parent company of Ace Hardware and Ben Franklin Crafts, which has an exclusive licensing agreement to open Daiso stores in the islands, said “overwhelming demand by local residents prompted the company to expand to a second location.”

“Over the past three months, our customers have told us that Daiso has met an unfulfilled demand for unique, quality items at affordable prices,” said Milton Fujii, president of 3Katto, which operates Daiso Hawaii.

Jay Inatsuka, division manager, said he is “expecting just about the same crowd” as the Pearl City store, which still has lines out the door on the weekends. “Parking’s very limited, but still yet we expect a lot of foot traffic. There’s a lot of people from town who are not fortunate enough to travel to Pearl City, so they have the opportunity to come here.”

The retailer sells everything from beauty products and household goods to Japanese snacks and stationery. While known as the “Japanese dollar store,” most products sell for $1.50.