Daiso and Ikea

Last Saturday, after the Red Ginger and Egg banquet at Winchester Chef for my nephew (photos at Facebook), we went to the Daiso in Cupertino to check it out. It was my first time there. I also looked at the supermarket that was next to it, Marukai.

Daiso is the Japanese $1.50 store. As I was walking through it I even wondered if it was authentically Japanese. The announcement in the store that everything was $1.50 except for items that were marked otherwise was read by a woman with a Japanese accent. I got the impression that the appeal of the store was a bit artificial, that they were trying too hard to make it Japanese, and that it was more a sales gimmick than anything else. Are the items in the store all made in Japan? I suppose if they are, they're safer than comparable items made in China and sold here in Chinese supermarkets and stores.

The Cupertino Daiso is relatively new. There is another store in Daly City, and apparently one in Union City as well.

I did find some cheap notebooks, good-looking chopsticks, and lunch bags/containers. But no chopstick bags -- at least not ones that didn't look cheap.

Marukai is ok, but it's not as big as Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose. I have no idea about the quality of the food there, but ah Fai does a lot of shopping at Marukai.

Do the two stores have a strong enough customer base in Cupertino to survive? Are there that many Japanese residents of Cupertino? Ah Fai says he has a lot of Japanese neighbors in his apartment building. But the store doesn't just attract Japanese people--there are the Koreans and Chinese who shop there as well.

Next time I'll have to take a closer look at the ceramic ware.

From a flyer I saw in Marukai (or was it in Daiso?) -- the Yoshida Brothers are performing at Yoshi's SF, May 12-16. (Their MySpace.)

Daiso
Daiso Japan Online Store

Later that afternoon we went to the Ikea in Palo Alto. I didn't see any blonde Swedes there. I heard about the ameneties offered in the bathrooms -- babychanging area, free diapers, etc. Is this part of the Swedish [socialist] culture? The quality of the products was not impressive at all. A lot of cheap, poorly made items, like the lazy Susan my sister the M.D. bought.

We had dinner in the cafeteria; I didn't eat anything except some fries, as I was still stuffed from lunch. I didn't eat any meatballs. The next time I am there, maybe. Free refills on soda, but I should be avoiding high-fructose corn syrup.

Dark Sugar The decline and fall of high-fructose corn syrup.‎