Japanese Discount Chain Daiso is Bringing Four Stores to San Antonio

Affordable goods across categories like home decor, snacks, and beauty products are coming to San Antonio, as the popular Japanese retailer Daiso is making a big push into the market.

Daiso plans to open four new stores around San Antonio throughout 2024, attracted strong economy and growing population of this region.

"San Antonio has one of the best economies in the United States, along with consistently strong growth which makes this region a great area for our expansion," said Daniela Davis, Daiso USA's Vice President of Marketing. "We have also had some great feedback from our social channels where we see an ask for our stores in the area."

The first three Daiso stores slated for San Antonio will open in the Alamo Ranch area (5,661 sq ft), Castle Hills (6,616 sq ft), and Westover Hills (8,217 sq ft) in June, July and September respectively. Plans for a fourth location at the Thousand Oaks Shopping Center also recently surfaced.

Davis noted that store opening timelines remain "fluid" for now, but all four San Antonio Daiso shops should be up and running by the end of summer 2024. Each is expected to hire around 18-24 employees.

The expansion allows San Antonio shoppers to experience Daiso's wide range of affordable and unique products including Japanese inspired home decor, stationery, food and beauty products.

It's part of an aggressive U.S. growth strategy for the Japanese brand founded in 1972. Daiso currently operates over 6,000 stores worldwide with just over 100 across America, including 22 in the Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth areas of Texas.

But it hopes to increase its domestic footprint to 1,000 locations by 2030, with additional new stores in the pipeline for cities like Beaumont, Humble, El Paso, McAllen, League City, and Fort Worth according to state filings.

The recent openings continue filling retail vacancies left by struggling chains across the San Antonio region, where the area's biggest malls and plazas ended 2023 at a 95% occupancy rate - the highest in decades.