A Japanese housewares store opens in Wentzville.
Last summer, I visited Japan to meet some of my husband’s grandparents and extended family for the first time (my husband’s father is from Japan). I was delightfully overwhelmed by the towering shrines bursting with red and orange colors, polite strangers bowing at every turn, quaint shops full of handmade ceramic bowls for ramen, and food layered with rich flavors of fish and vegetables. While each of these experiences hold a place in my heart, there was something about visiting Daiso in Japan that I truly longed for after I returned home.
Daiso is a chain store found throughout Japan that carries household goods. At the time of my visit, everything in the store was 100 yen, which was equivalent to about 64 cents in US currency. The high-quality goods were set at a cheap price, so I furiously collected everything from a porcelain sake set to hairpins to snacks to a kitchen tool to make onigiri (a triangular rice ball wrapped in seaweed). I begged to visit Daiso as we passed through each town in Japan.
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When I got back to Missouri with a suitcase full of Daiso products, I presumed it would be a long time before I once again heard the welcoming “Daiso, Daiso” jingle that plays when you enter a store.
But now there is a Daiso in Wentzville.
“Daiso is expanding across the US, and we’re very excited to have our first store in Missouri because of the great feedback we’ve received from people wanting us to come to this area,” says Denisse Uriarte, marketing coordinator for Daiso USA.
The Daiso in Wentzville opened in January 2025. It is almost 7,000 square feet and carries Japanese products, such as snacks, drinks, stationery, skincare, plushies, and kitchenware, including the exact same sake set I transported across the world. The prices range from $1.75 to $15. Daiso also plans on opening stores in Chesterfield and Brentwood, Denisse says.
“Daiso in Japan is a very popular store and is well known for its affordable and fun items,” Denisse says. “Daiso expanded in the US because they saw the demand and interest for Japanese-inspired products. Their goal was to bring the same unique and affordable shopping experience to customers in the US.”
For more information, visit DaisoUS.com.
This article was originally published in the July/August 2025 issue of Missouri Life.
Photos by Andrea Kaneko
