Japanese lifestyle retailer bringing its largest-ever store to Tampa

Ebisu Life Store, an internet famous Japanese and Asian lifestyle retailer, will soon open a location in Tampa Bay — its largest ever store. 

The popular retail chain has signed a lease to open a corporate store at 6234 Commerce Drive in Tampa Palms — a former Joann Fabrics store that anchors the Market Square retail center, along with BJ’s Wholesale Club, PetSmart and Ross Dress for Less. 

According to Ripco Real Estate, which listed the space, the store is 21,597-square-feet — larger than the 14,756-square-foot Orlando Ebisu that opened its doors last February as the company’s largest store to date.

Ebisu’s new lease agreement and projected opening date were not immediately available, and permits have not yet been filed with Hillsborough County for the new store. 

Founded in Osaka in 2013, Ebisu is known for its “theme park”-like shopping experience, offering a wide variety of anime plushies, blind boxes, asian snacks, “gashapon” toy vending machines, Kawaii collectibles, beauty products, arcade-style claw machines and other curated Asian home goods, according to its website. 

Ebisu has grown to more than 20 stores located throughout the U.S., according to its website, which also lists 15 stores as “coming soon.” Among those locations is the Tampa Palms store and a new Miami location. Representatives from Ebisu were not immediately available for comment Friday. 

Ebisu isn’t the only popular Asian retailer to open a Tampa location in recent years. A short drive away from the new Ebisu store is Lotte Plaza Market, a sprawling pan-Asian grocery and food market at 17605 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. that opened in 2023. And last February, another viral Asian home goods store, Daiso, made its Florida debut when it opened a Carrollwood location at 15702 N. Dale Mabry Highway.