'Round-the-clock' shopping: Don Don Donki starts 24-hour store operations on Monday

Japanese retail giant Don Don Donki will be extending its store operations to 24 hours a day, seven days a week starting on Monday, May 13, the company announced over the weekend.

This comes just a few weeks after the massive store’s April 25 grand opening in Tamuning, with initial store hours of 6 a.m. to 12 midnight.

The 24/7 operation means people can come and shop at Don Don Donki any hour of any given day, including late-night shoppers and early birds.

“We’re excited to be able to provide this round-the-clock service and look forward to serving you every hour of the day, any day of the week,” Don Don Donki said in announcing its 24/7 operation on social media.

Don Don Donki, however, said that only the store, with its wide selection of fresh produce, groceries, snacks and unique Japanese finds, will be open 24 hours.

Its Food Hall and tenants like Waka Sakura sushi restaurant, Delicatessen and Poke will continue to operate with their regular hours, it said.

Don Don Donki, with its massive 247,000 sq.ft. of sales floor area, can accommodate some 3,500 shoppers at a time, representatives earlier said. It has 1,170 parking slots.

The Guam location is the first Don Don Donki store in the U.S. as part of the expansive Village of Donki, and Pan Pacific Retail Management (Guam) earlier said they’re confident that this will become a beloved destination for locals and tourists.

The Japanese retail giant’s investment on Guam has been estimated at $150 million.

Don Don Donki’s opening comes after more than five years of anticipation from the public, long before its groundbreaking in 2020, a month before the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.

It was initially set to open in September 2021, which was reset for summer of 2023, and finally, a soft opening on April 22, 2024 and a grand opening on April 25, 2024.

Guam’s grocery store landscape

Don Don Donki is just among grocery stores and supermarkets that are changing Guam’s commercial landscape.

Shortly after Don Don Donki’s soft opening, Cost.U.Less announced on April 23 that it will be opening its fourth and largest location on Guam in mid-2025 at the Agana Shopping Center.

The standalone Cost.U.Less, at 50,000 sq.ft., is being built at an adjoining lot next to Wendy’s at Agana Shopping Center.

Another American Grocery is also being built in Maite, with no announcement of an opening date yet.

Prior to Don Don Donki’s opening, another major supermarket opening was Pay-Less Supermarket’s Oct. 26, 2019 grand opening in its new location in Maite, which is also open 24 hours. After that, Pay-Less Supermarket reopened its renovated store within Micronesia Mall on Jan. 9, 2023.

Here are some of Guam’s largest stores’ sales floor area, based on PDN files and other sources:

• Don Don Donki, with 247,000 sq.ft.
• Home Depot, with about 156,000 sq.ft.
• KMart, with about 120,000 sq.ft.
• Cost.U.Less at Agana Shopping Center opening in mid-2025, with 50,000 sq.ft.
• Pay-Less Supermarkets in Maite, with 45,660 sq.ft.