100 Seria is a 100 yen shop that seems to be the epitome of every DIY enthusiast or Japanese school girl’s dreams: a chic 100 yen shop with a wide variety of cheap, fun French-themed interior design materials. With over 1000 shops, Seria is well on the way of becoming the “next big thing” in 100 yen stores.
Seria cannot be simply described as simply a shop selling things for 100 yen. It is much too classy for that. If all 100 yen shops were to be classified as a family, Seria would be the “elderly aunt who likes to hand-knit sweaters and make personal greeting cards”. That is to say, Seria carries all the “normal” essentials of a 100 yen shop (umbrellas, hair accessories, ceramics, school supplies, and home cleaning supplies), it also has things like lace, modern-style wrapping paper, and things that look like they belong in the scrapbooking section of a supermarket.
Everything, from the pictures all over the wall, to the vaguely yellowish orange store lighting, to the bright green color scheme conveys the message of warmth and elegance. Regardless of the time of year, Seria feels like a warm spring afternoon. This illusion is only furthered by the fact that the store is filled with rustic and sentimental pieces, like iron gates, lace, and old-fashioned printed paper.
Seria is nice because most of the things it carries look classy. In most instances, class costs money, Not with Seria.
Their philosophy is “To keep our heart and shop clean;” everything inside the shop is a testament to their joy and earnest attitude.
Rather than shelling out the normal 600yen for wrapping paper at a normal grocery store, I headed over to Seria and bought two rolls of wrapping paper, a pack of 15 France-themed gift tags, and a pack of 10 miniature post cards – all for only 400yen.
I had the nicest wrapped gifts at the company’s Christmas party; the best part was that no one knew what I real cheapo I was. That’s the true meaning of Christmas.
In any case, Seria also has a cute collection of clips, hair bows, and even a couple different shades of fake hair (bangs and extensions) for the truly cheap people who want to change their hairstyle and appearance, but don’t want to spend more than 100yen doing it.
Their gardening section was surprisingly on-par. While they don’t sell any “real” live flowers, they do sell seeds, wooden fences, shovels, and everything else you would need to start a tiny garden out behind your apartment.
Who knows, I might try my hand at gardening soon, since Seria makes it so cheap.
Last but not least, their home appliances and supplies section is the best (and cheapest) I’ve seen in Tokyo – even beating out the 4 story Daiso 100 yen shop in Harajuku. They have different colors and types of shelf extensions so that you can turn any closet into a more space-friendly environment. Since summer is quickly approaching, they also recently put out their collection of Mugicha (Barley tea) containers.
As I said before, Seria has all the “basics” of a 100 yen store, but instead of a cheap atmosphere, it embraces a more sophisticated style, making it the most elegant 100 yen chain shop I’ve ever set foot in.
On a side note- since Seria isn’t a large shop, at least by 100 yen shop standards, most of the Seria stores are located inside of another building.
The most common are in the basement or on the top floor.
