A popular chain that sells low-cost “Japanese inspired” goods is coming to Utah – with one of its first stores slated for Midvale.
Daiso US, the American wing of a chain referred to by fans as a “Japanese dollar store,” is planning to open three stores in Utah starting next summer, the company’s U.S. spokesperson, Daniela Davis, said Friday.
The first Daiso (pronounced “DYE-soh”) store in Utah is planned for The Shops at Fort Union in Midvale — and the company’s website has already posted job listings.
“Utah’s thriving economy, vibrant communities, and the increasing popularity of diverse retail options make it an ideal location for Daiso’s next phase of growth,” said Davis in a statement Friday.
Davis did not say where the other two Utah locations might be.
(Daiso) The interior of a Daiso store. The Japanese dollar-store chain has confirmed that it plans to open three locations in Utah in 2025 — one of them in Midvale.
Jada Kali, 24, who lives in the Salt Lake area, posted on TikTok (her handle is @bobamotivation) when she first heard rumors of Daiso opening in Midvale.
“We’ve been needing this for such a long time,” Kali said on the video, which had earned more than 90,000 views as of Friday.
People commenting on Kali’s post replied with such sentiments as “my prayers have been answered” and “I fear I might buy everything.”
Kali told The Salt Lake Tribune that shopping at a Daiso store takes her back to her childhood in the Philippines – when she spent her time in similar stores, searching for “cute bento boxes” and stationery that would get her “excited” for school.
“Even though Daiso is a Japanese brand and the Philippines is more southeast Asia, there are still some similarities,” Kali said. “So bringing just that nostalgia, at least for me – and maybe other Asian Americans might feel the same way – [it’s] kind of like having a piece of home with us here.”
The company, founded in Hiroshima, Japan, is known for its affordable home goods, beauty products and stationery. Daiso opened its first U.S. store in 2005 at a mall in a Seattle suburb. The chain has since expanded to more than 150 locations in the United States — with dozens in California and Texas with multiple stores in the Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and New York metropolitan areas, according to its website.
The Midvale location will be at 1110 E. Fort Union Blvd, a former Deseret Book location next to a Five Below store.
“We’re excited – we know that they’re a big draw,” said Katie Mikula, a leasing agent with Mountain West Commercial, which represents the Fort Union shopping center. “They’re going to be a new cool tenant that people have followed for a really long time.”
(Daiso) The interior of a Daiso store. The Japanese dollar-store chain has confirmed that it plans to open three locations in Utah in 2025 — one of them in Midvale.
Daiso’s arrival is expected to come about a year after another Asian-based chain — the Korean grocery giant H Mart — made its Utah debut with a store in West Jordan last June.
Kali said that she sees Daiso’s arrival as a “start” for growing diverse businesses in Utah, and as a way to create community and belonging. She said that after the Utah Legislature passed HB261 in early 2024 — dismantling diversity programs in state schools and government — people are looking “elsewhere” for that sense of belonging.
“I hope long-term, growing diverse businesses will show, especially to our politicians and government here in Utah, [that] we need diversity,” Kali said. “We need those spaces here.”
