BoardGameGeek News

On October 2, 2005, the first store in the United States opened for business in Alderwood Mall located in Lynnwood, Washington near Seattle, WA. This store is much smaller at only 442 square meters (approx. 4,750 square feet), and items were originally one of three prices, $1, $1.50, and $2 (all USD). The current inventory now includes packaged food and items are now priced up to $8, though most items are at the $1.50 price point.

There are 77 stores in the United States, with more being built: seven are in Washington, 8 are in Texas, and 59 in California. The largest U.S. Daiso is located in Union City, California, which has 17,760 square foot (1,650 square meters) of floor space and opened on August 8, 2007.

On December 12, 2018, Daiso Japan opened its first store in Hawaii, and opened another on March 14, 2019.

On March 8, 2019, Daiso Japan opened its first branch in the East Coast U.S. in Flushing, Queens, New York

One rough spot [in 2018] was the length of our closing ceremonies on Saturday night and we'd like to improve that by making it easier to give away the awesome games donated by many of our exhibitors. To that end, the exhibitor giveaways will now be distributed over the course of the convention, and we will do so at the new BGG Prize Booth located near the front of the Exhibit Hall (Marsalis).

Each morning (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) we will randomly draw from all picked-up badges to determine the winners of that day's exhibitor giveaways. If your badge user-number is drawn, come to the BGG Prize Booth anytime before the exhibit hall closes on that day at 5 p.m. to claim your prize. If you don't pick it up by then, you'll forfeit the prize and it will go back into the pool for the next day's winners. Prizes unclaimed on Saturday will be set aside for daily giveaways at future events.

Winners will be posted in the BGG Prize Booth (Exhibit Hall - Marsalis), by registration (Trinity A), and also announced via the Guidebook app.

Blooper!

On Sports Deck 13, Royal Caribbean's signature waterslides Cyclone and Typhoon will be installed next to the FlowRider simulator and on Spa Deck 12, a new Slashaway Bay kids aqua park will be added. (This is an interactive water play area with cannons and geysers, replacing the Outdoor Youth Area.) Explorer of the Seas is one of the Voyager-class Royal Caribbean ships, which also includes Adventure, Mariner, Navigator and Voyager. Explorer of the Seas has a total of 1,557 staterooms for 3,114 passengers (max capacity is 3,840 guests), served by 1,180 crew/staff. The ship has 14 passenger accessible decks, 15 lounges and bars, 4 swimming pools, 7 jacuzzis, and 14 elevators. Check out the official deck map for an idea of how the ship was laid out.

You'll also, no doubt, smell your feast being prepared: Alaskan-caught wild salmon grilling over an open, alder wood fire. The all-you-can-eat meal — served under translucent domes, in case of soft rain — includes baked "cheechako" chicken ("cheechako" is slang for "newcomers"), Gold Rush potatoes, baked beans, wild rice pilaf, fresh salads and corn bread. Wash it down with lemonade, coffee or tea — or pay a few dollars extra for beer and wine, including some locally made ales.

As though blueberry cake weren't enough for dessert, you can finish off your meal with perhaps the greatest, yet simplest, delicacy of outdoor dining: roasted marshmallows, which you can prepare yourself over the crackling campfire. The lush scenery of Southeast Alaska's rain forest is another wonderful after-meal complement, along with the folk music performed by local musicians. After dessert, browse for gold panning kits and other mementos in the trading post.