My friend Olga told me about a wonderful new store her daughter-in-law had found. What made it great? Almost everything in it was for sale for $1.50! That's certainly upscale from the 99 Cent Store or the 88 Cents Store I saw on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City!
Yesterday we went for a look-see ourselves. When we got there, to my joy, we found a Marukai right next door! They share a building wall they're so close.
I googled Daiso and found that it is a major chain in Japan. Daiso "wants to help customers find surprises and fun." To that end, there are 2,570 stores in Japan plus another 563 more in 4 countries. As of March, 2010, sales totaled $341.4 billion (billion.)
There's a big "Grand Opening!" sign out front and the cashier said they've been open four weeks. There's a wide variety of items -- thong sandals in plastic to what looked like chenille (but they were $3) men's shirts, ties, dishes, kitchen gadgets and more, much more. Richie bought suction cups (they always come down,) a clip-to-the-book LED reading light (useful on rainy days down in the gym garage,) a sports sunglasses case and a little miniature car -- all for $1.50 each.
Marukai has a great Website - marukai.com - done in Japanese cartoon style. A lot of the site is in Japanese, but I did read they are going to have a "mini mini beauty convention" in the Gardena store soon. In a cartoon strip, a boy wants to make curry for his friend. The four panels show how to do it and it was quite cute.
I love seeing all sorts of packaged foods, labeled in Japanese only, and trying to figure out what the hell is inside the package. I did recognize one thing though and snapped a bag right up. Gyoza shrimp potstickers. Four of five of them make a very good, quick lunch and I love trying a different sauce on each one of them.
If you want to have a great Japanese shopping tour with lots of local color, don't bother with a plane to Tokyo - just drive to:
Daiso, 3842 Sepulvea, Torrance, 90505 424-237-2388
Marukai, 3832 Sepulveda, Torrance, 90505 30-375-4900
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