Toy News

Japanese collector toy store to open at Firewheel center in Garland

Toy vending machines at Gashapon.

Gashapon

A new store for people who like to collect small plastic objects is coming to Garland. It's called Gashapon Bandai Official Shop, and it's opening in June at Firewheel Town Center, where it will sell "capsule toys" — miniature plastic toys packaged in clear plastic capsules.

Gashapon is a type of vending machine that dispenses capsule toys. The concept is popular in Japan, with machines found in train stations, arcades, convenience stores, and other locations. (The name "Gashapon" is derived from the sounds of turning the handle ("gasha") and the capsule dropping ("pon").)

The toys inside Gashapon capsules can be characters from cultural realms like manga, video games, or Japanese anime franchises. Or they can be coasters, or food miniatures, or charms you attach to your purse or notebook, or little animal figures, or little whimsical animal figures, or little statues, or an assortment of little plastic hats, or a quartet of tiny jewelry stands in pastel colors (buy them all!).

The machines take tokens which cost $2 to $2.50 each; most toys "cost" 2 to 4 tokens each.

The idea of capsule toys — coin-operated vending machines — actually originated in the U.S. in 1907 along with bubble-gum machines. Japan embraced it in the 1960s, and the Gashapon chain was launched in Japan in 1977.

The first U.S. Gashapon Bandai Official Shop opened in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district in February 2023.

The entire thing is driven by collector frenzy. The toys are produced in limited quantities, and in sets, which encourages customers to acquire every member of the set.

Customers do not know what they will get until they turn the vending machine handle — not unlike slot machines. Like gambling. Or as Gashapon says more delicately, "The element of surprise brings excitement during the purchase and gets everyone hooked!" … furthering the frenzy even further.

Garland will make the fifth location in Texas; following Hurst, which opened in May; Grapevine Mills Mall and Houston, which opened in 2024; and Mitsuwa Marketplace in Plano which opened in 2023 (There's also a kiosk at Grapevine Mills Mall.)

openings shopping kids

Doors News

Dallas Habitat For Humanity home store gets all the garage doors

Perry Homes

Doors doors doors at Habitat For Humanity

It's doors doors doors at the Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore, the discount home furnishings store at 2800 N. Hampton Rd., thanks to a charitable donation from Perry Homes, a major Dallas-area homebuilder.

Habitat for Humanity ReStores is a chain of home goods and hardware stores that sell new and donated items on discount, with a constantly-changing inventory of furniture, appliances, building materials, lighting, and home decor at up to 90 percent off retail price.

It's a favorite for homeowners, landlords, contractors, interior designers, and recyclers who prefer to re-use rather than buy new. Lighting is always expensive and they often have amazing fixtures, from places like hotels that have undergone renovations or stores that have closed, at discount rates.

In Dallas there are also stores in Lake Highlands, Garland, and Walnut Hill/North Dallas.

Perry Homes donated more than 400 new garage doors, valued at almost $500,000, to support Dallas Habitat’s mission to provide safe, affordable housing for families throughout the community.

The garage doors are valued at $1,000 or more each, but will be sold for 70 percent off. Models include

Clopay Classic Steel Long Panel 8 ft x 7 ft Non-Insulated White Garage Door without Windows
Clopay Classic Steel Long Panel 16 ft x 7 ft Non-Insulated White Garage Door without Windows
Steel Carriage House Garage Doors - Clopay Coachman

According to a spokesperson from Perry Homes, they became available following shifts in the company's supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Rather than allowing this inventory to go unused, we saw a meaningful opportunity to support local families and further strengthen our ongoing partnership with Habitat for Humanity," the spokesperson says.

Perry Homes has an ongoing partnership with the Dallas Area for Habitat for Humanity that includes projects such as the recent Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build Dallas 2025 project, in which the organization spends a day building a home for a local Dallas family.

In addition to selling the doors, Dallas Area Habitat For Humanity can use them on future builds.

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