Japanese discount store Daiso to open in Fort Collins

FORT COLLINS — Daiso, a Japanese chain of discount retailers that sells low-cost “Japanese-inspired” home decor, beauty products, food items and stationery, will open a store in Fort Collins this spring.

The 48-year-old Hiroshima, Japan-based chain that styles itself as equivalent to an American “dollar store,” will take over a space at 4300 S. College Ave. in March that had been occupied by David’s Bridal, part of a struggling chain that filed for bankruptcy twice.

Daiso — pronounced DYE-soh — has more than 6,000 outlets worldwide. It opened its first U.S. store in 2005 at Alderwood Mall in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood, Washington, and has expanded to more than 150 locations in the United States.

The “Careers” section on its website includes a job posting for a store manager in Fort Collins, and openings are also listed for locations in the “On Havana Street” shopping center at Parker Road and Havana Street in south Aurora, at 6770 S. University Blvd. in Littleton and 7821 N. Wadsworth Blvd. in Arvada.

The popular chain has not been without controversy. Broomfield-based Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq: CROX) sued Daiso in a California District Court, accusing it of violating copyright trademarks and contending that its “Casual Sandals for Men” and “Lined Casual Clog” are virtual copies of Crocs’ classic foam clogs. And in 2017, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission forced Daiso to recall 165 products in Australia including beauty products with allergy-causing ingredients that were not clearly labelled in English and toys that could pose a choking hazard.

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