Daiso Fort Worth

Super hot Japanese dollar store gifts Fort Worth with so many cute things

Fort Worth will get its own branch of Daiso, the whimsical Japanese dollar store.

Photo courtesy of Daiso Japan

The most irresistible dollar store in the world, Daiso, adds a key city to its growing list of Texas locations: Fort Worth. The Japanese value chain will open a store at 8967 Tehama Ridge Pkwy., next to Guitar Center, just off I-35, in a discount-rich area that includes Sam Moon, Costco, and Ross Dress For Less.

This will be the fourth branch of Daiso to open in Texas. The first opened in Carrollton with great fanfare in August 2015. A second branch opened in Irving in November 2015; Plano just opened in late September.

Known for its $1.50 price tag on most items, Daiso carries thousands of products ranging from kitchenware, beauty supplies, stationery, wrapping paper, electronic accessories, and everyday sundries. There are unique gift items as well as a new line of greeting cards and party favors.

Its goal is to make shopping both fun and budget-friendly. It keeps its prices low via high-volume purchases, i.e. in the millions for a single product.

The Fort Worth store is aiming for a grand opening celebration beginning on November 18 at 10 am, with festivities that will include music, vendor sampling, drawings, and great shopping. The celebration will continue on November 19.

Goodie bags will be given to the first 100 customers each day, with proof of receipt. Prizes include a Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner, an iPad mini, a K-Cup brewer, $100 Visa Cards, and a $50 gas card.

Daiso also offers seasonal and holiday items, and Fort Worth's opening is just in time for the 2016 shopping season. "Every day is like Black Friday at Daiso," says a release, a clever thing to say the week before Thanksgiving.

Daiso was founded in 1977, and is currently in big expansion mode, opening at least 10 new stores globally every month. It has more than 2,800 stores in Japan and more than 600 stores in the rest of the world.

The first store in the United States opened in Seattle in 2005. There are now six stores in Washington and 41 in California. The plan is to open 50 stores in Texas, with Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston at the forefront. At least six sites are under negotiation, including one in Arlington.

openings shopping

income news

This is how much it takes to be a middle class earner in DFW in 2025

Photo by Michael Tuszynski on Unsplash

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Maintaining a middle class status in Dallas-Fort Worth only gets harder as the years go on, and the income ceiling to even be labeled as such has just risen even higher. So says SmartAsset's annual "What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America" report for 2025.

According to the latest findings, middle-class income in big cities has a wide range: Depending on where the city is located, it it can be as low as $49,478 or as high as $71,359. This is up from 2024, when middle-class incomes started at $47,568.

Among Texas cities, Plano holds the No. 1 spot on the list with the highest middle-class income ranges.

A household in Plano would need to make a minimum of $72,389 but no more than $217,188 to be considered "middle class" in 2025. Last year, the necessary salary range to maintain a middle class designation in Plano was between $63,651 and $190,004 a year.

The report used a variation of Pew Research's definition of a middle class household, stating the salary range is "two-thirds to double the median U.S. salary." To determine income limits, the report analyzed data from the Census Bureau's 2023 one-year American Community Survey, where the most recent data was available.

New to the 2025 edition, SmartAsset also determined the middle class income thresholds for all 50 states.

Arlington, Virginia has the highest middle class income range in the country, with households needing to make between $93,470 and $280,438 a year to be labeled "middle class."

Middle class earners across Dallas-Fort Worth
Fort Worth households will also have a hard time maintaining a "middle class" designation, as the city climbed from No. 184 last year to No. 46 this year. Earners would have to make between $51,383 and $154,164 annually to be considered middle class in 2025. Last year, they would have needed to make between $47,680 and $143,054 a year.

In a shift from the 2024 report, SmartAsset decided to analyze only the top 100 most populous U.S. cities, after previously ranking 345 cities. That means DFW suburbs like Allen and McKinney – which were among the top 40 cities with the highest middle class income threshold nationwide in 2024 – were left out of this year's analysis.

Here’s what it takes to be middle class in other DFW cities:

No. 43 – Irving: $52,885 to $158,670 yearly
No. 55 – Garland: $47,815 to $143,458 yearly
No. 59 – Dallas: $46,743 to $140,242 yearly
No. 61 – Arlington: $46,134 to $138,416 yearly

Elsewhere in Texas
On the opposite end of the scale, middle class earners in Lubbock have one of the smallest income ranges necessary to be labeled middle class in Texas: Between $36,297 and $108,902 a year. The city ranked 92nd nationwide.

The study says cost of living changes, rising inflation rates, and shifting wages nationwide have made it more difficult for Americans to maintain their "middle class" status.

"For middle-class Americans, the dream has long been a life of reasonable comfort — a stable home, the ability to save enough money to retire, and enough left over for periodic splurges like family vacations, updated cars, or home improvements," the report's author wrote. "But with living costs surging over the past few years, that dream is getting pricier."

Here’s what it takes to be a middle class earner in other Texas cities:

No. 18 – Austin: $60,995 to $183,002 yearly
No. 73 – Corpus Christi: $43,421 to $130,276 yearly
No. 75 – Houston: $41,754 to $125,274 yearly
No. 78 – San Antonio: $41,544 to $124,644 yearly
No. 82 – Laredo: $40,476 to $121,440 yearly
No. 86 – El Paso: $38,208 to $114,634 yearly

In SmartAsset's state-by-state analysis, Texas has the 23rd largest middle class income range. Texas households would need to make between $50,515 and $151,560 to be labeled "middle class" this year. The median income for a Texas household in 2023 came out to $75,780.

The No. 1 state with the highest income range required is Massachusetts, with middle class households needing to make between $66,565 and $199,716 yearly in 2025.

income middle class status reports smartasset dallas plano fort worth