Daiso Inks Inaugural Lease for 12-Store Rollout in Greater Houston
March 14, 2016
HOUSTON – Daiso California LLC has signed its first lease for retail space in the Greater Houston region, where the plan is to open a dozen stores in the next two years.
Japan-based Daiso Industries Inc. designs, manufactures and brands innovative private-label products, offering an inventory of more than 90,000 high-quality items, ranging from $1.50 to $10, for its stores worldwide. Daiso has jump-started its push into Houston with a 10,998-sf lease in Mason Park Shopping Center at 501 S. Mason Rd. in Katy. Currently, five other leases are at various stages of negotiation in South Texas.
Daiso will open in space now occupied by Aaron’s Furniture. The keys will turn in September. If all goes as planned, Daiso’s grand opening will be in November.
The neighborhood shopping center caught Daiso’s eye because of its new grocery anchor, 99 Ranch Market, also a California-based chain that’s as well-known as Daiso in the Asian-American community. 99 Ranch Market, which has two other locations in Greater Houston, purchased the 56,000-sf former Kroger’s store three years ago, but acquisition terms barred the grocer from opening in the spot until this year. A summer opening is now being planned.
“It is really a draw for Daiso to be beside 99 Ranch because there is a built-in consumer base that’s already familiar with its brand,” says Heather Nguyen of Houston-based NewQuest Properties. She and NewQuest’s John Nguyen are Daiso’s tenant representatives in Texas.
Daiso has already opened two stores in Dallas/Fort Worth. On opening day at Carrollton Town Center, there were 2,000 people lined up before the doors opened. That store too neighbors a 99 Ranch Market.
Daiso’s U.S. expansion calls for 50 stores in Texas and 150 nationwide. To date, it has 41 stores in California and six in Washington plus the two in North Texas, which like Houston will be getting a dozen. Daiso is a global leader in the 100-yen category, boasting 2,800 stores in Japan and 860 in 26 countries. Its success is tied to its ability to create innovative products and stock store shelves with 1,000 new items each month. The Daiso team develops 500 new designs per month.
“There’s been a lot of buzz in Houston’s Asian community about Daiso coming. I expect we will have a welcoming grand opening,” Heather Nguyen says. “Katy is a good market for Daiso because of all the young families and new growth.”
Katy is one of the fastest-growing suburban communities in the Greater Houston MSA and it grows stronger demographically each year. Fueling the Katy economy and fast-paced growth is the completion of the $325 million Grand Parkway, a 180-mile outer belt tying together seven counties, as well as its highly acclaimed educational system and continuously expanding housing developments, retail, restaurants, healthcare and recreational opportunities. Katy’s population growth is pushing 6% annually.
“Katy is really becoming its own town. And Mason Road is one of its primary arteries leading to Interstate 10,” Nguyen says.
The Daiso store will be visible from Mason Road, as will 99 Ranch, which Nguyen represented three years ago when it bought the shuttered Kroger store. The 161,297-sf neighborhood center is owned by EQYInvest II Ltd, LLP. Adam Blustein of Global Fund Investments represented the landlord in the negotiations with Daiso.
As it waits for the Mason Park keys, Daiso is planning to bring stores on line in Houston as soon as spaces deliver. “Mason Park was the first lease we signed, but it might not be the first location to open,” Nguyen explains.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Heather Nguyen, 281-477-4358
John Nguyen, 281-477-4326
