It really is one of the worst examples of a retailer anywhere. Shelf after shelf of semi-disposable, plastic tat, destined for landfill. Crap, processed food. Knock off cosmetics. Crowded, uncomfortable, unfriendly.
I guess it really depends on the actual location. The one I went to in Iwate was awesome, not multi-storey but a one-floor, jungle-like layout. Very good food section, bought a rug, travel neckpillow, and some crockery, I'm still using them now after months.
I've always referred to crap at discount stores as "future garbage." Sure, that's end-of-the-line for most things, but these discount stores peddle stuff with an exceptionally short useful life. Especially targeted towards kids, I feel! I guess it's easier for a parent to give in to a child's wants when the toy is only a buck.
Crowded and uncomfortable? I never really felt it was that bad. I lived in Hyogo-ken and would sometimes stop in at one on my way home from university. It was a fun place to be, a sensory overload perhaps though you get used to it pretty quickly. I usually just bought snacks there, a halloween costume... It's like an upgraded dollar store.
it's not crowded for a typical japanese store and not crowded for a typical east asian megacity store. i've seen "supermarkets" that have just as much walking space. that's just the nature of the use of space in that part of the world.
also i feel like almost every city will have a business like this that sells everything under one roof that does very very well. japan itself has a lot of these kind of businesses - daiso, tokyu, etc. places like donki just happen to be the most well known of them all.
Mmm Daiso. Guess it depends on what you're looking for. I love it because it has all sorts of useful things you can repurpose as a maker that you wouldn't find anywhere else locally. (Or at least not cheaply.)
Large silicone mat for $1.50, Nice bamboo slab for $3, stainless steel rulers, fine-point dry erase markers, etc... There are some gems in there.
I agree, it makes the dollar store in the USA feel like a high end retailer. They sell absolute junk. Things you would find in the garbage that other stores might throw out.
I've been into these shops a couple of times when traveling in Japan, and while I mostly didn't end up buying much, they're definitely a lot of fun to browse.
I like Muji, I like Daiso (branded as Living Plaza here, and which I always describe to people as "what if Muji did a pound shop?") and I'm looking forward to the first Don Quijote store opening in Hong Kong later this year!
I've been witnessing a new store being built very near to our house.
A typhoon tore away the sign of a pachinko place near us (it hit a nearby building), and apparently instead of fixing their store they decided to close it down and sell the building to Don Quijote.
Seems like a good match for them, as the pachinko place is huge, with 6 wide floors that used to be gambling machines shoulder-to-shoulder, but I guess will now be tightly packed cheap goods instead.
Everyone here is excited by it, as we have no interesting stores otherwise nearby. The first I heard the rumors was from wife's barber, and they quickly spread and other random people started telling me about the new store.
Don Quixote is infamous. Murakami (the other one) highlighted it in his long essay on Japan and pop culture, 'Earth in My Window', as emblematic of post-WWII Japanese consumerism: https://www.gwern.net/docs/eva/2005-murakami
While not explicit, I do get the sense that they are trying to glamorize these atrocious stores. If you are American just imagine a 6 story "Big Lots!" that happens to also sell designer bags and sex toys.
Those stores are a mess inside and I can only imagine make a profit because they sell everything. In central Tokyo, most of them are just tourist traps at this point.
They’re certainly not tourist traps; they’re a staple for people living in central Tokyo.
Many years ago I lived in Shibuya and Donki was the only place I could get a lot of basic supplies, including even groceries, at a reasonable price. Now I live somewhere else in central Tokyo and don’t go nearly as often thanks to Amazon, but it’s still the only place to buy a lot of items.
I went to the Akihabara location while in Tokyo, mostly to see the gamers. Went up 6 escalators and was not disappointed by the intensity of local gaming going on up there. There were dudes who’d brought their own electric fans and towels to keep them comfortable while they DDR’d the night away.
Perhaps not many years ago, but they are certainly full of tourists now. Check out the Shibuya or Roppongi Donki on any given day, and the number of tourists is far greater than that of locals -- same with Daiso, recently.
Also my comment doesn't preclude Donki having some daily necessities. As for calling it a "staple" for central Tokyo, that's a bit of a stretch. If you said outside of the 23 wards, then I would agree.
You're taking the two places that have the most tourists and lowest residential concentration in Tokyo. Obviously it's going to be mostly tourists in the shop.
Go see a Donki in a residential neighborhood and it'll be full of locals. I live in Shirokane, an upscale highly residential neighborhood off of Meguro station, and even if it's reputed as one of the richest place in Tokyo there is a Donki and it's packed with local families shopping.
Fair enough. I also live in a upscale residential area of Minato (Azabu Juban). I'm actually considering a move to Shirokane, as Juban is getting a bit too crowded.
I admit I am biased in that my nearest Donki is the Roppongi location.
"Store managers control merchandising, negotiating prices directly with suppliers"
This sounds like it ought to make scaling to different countries difficult. If you don't have a unique supply chain, then what advantage do you have over a mom and pop discount store?
Uniqlo, Muji, and Daiso (which is less well known but has quite a few US stores) seem to source centrally, just like other global retailers.
> If you don't have a unique supply chain, then what advantage do you have over a mom and pop discount store?
In the article it mentioned those managers dictate what gets on the shelf and mention how they chase after surprise hit (wax nose hair). It seems they're more agile than their competitors and let managers living in those area decides what products to stock.
The Hawaii stores were taken over from Daiei (Japanese supermarket chain) and I don't think they've changed that much, still a different animal from the Japanese Donki stores I've been to. In comparison they've opened a couple Daisos in Hawaii recently and the goods are identical to what you find in any Daiso in Japan.
Bloomberg is paywalled so I wasn’t able to read much of the linked article; Reuters, however, wrote about Don Quixote in August 2018 [0].
Interesting retailing concept. I do wonder if Japanese consumers will ever tire of the novelty. Then again, 29 years of growth might suggest otherwise.
It just looks like a regular Chinese bazaar store except Japanese. Do they sell pens that dries out after a few weeks? USB cables that starts glitching after two weeks? Shoes that fall apart after a few days?
Pretty much, but Donki's main selling point is the incredible array of completely off-the-wall shit in no discernible order. For example, this pic has rubber chickens, an exploding hat, a helium dispenser for making your voice squeaky, gorilla plushies, retro gaming consoles, sexy maid costumes, a giant robot toy, a RC helicopter and a waffle iron:
I think they intentionally put these in nightlife districts, so they can be a sort of drunk man's IKEA where you always end up buying more than you planned to.
>I think they intentionally put these in nightlife districts, so they can be a sort of drunk man's IKEA where you always end up buying more than you planned to.
The chain is based in China, but one of Miniso's founders is actually Japanese.
I recently ran into a "Yubiso" in KL, meaning there's now a Malaysian clone of a Chinese clone of Japanese stores (Miniso is basically Uniqlo and Muji mashed together).
This plays on continuous loop at all stores.
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