Shopping and dining chains are finding that in an international and adventurous city like Houston they can find success.

The melting pot of people coming to work and live here from other places are increasingly finding their overseas comfort foods and retail therapists are following them to the Bayou City.

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Houston of course has Swedish furniture giant IKEA located off I-10 West, the site of countless domestic arguments disagreements on any given weekend. Most millennials have at least one Ikea item somewhere in their homes. Whether or not its been put together correctly is another story.

This week Katy saw the opening of Daiso, a wildly-popular Japanese discount store, which is known for budget-priced candy, housewares, and decorations. Another Japanese import, Beard Papa's, recently opened up nearby specializing in cream puff pastries.

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Meanwhile Houstonians are still getting accustomed to German grocery store Aldi, which emphasizes simplicity and low prices over a glut of items at every turn. Aldi is looking to grab some of the current market share held by Walmart and Kroger within the coming years.

There are now three dozen Aldi stores in Houston, with a new location in Clear Lake opening its doors just weeks ago.

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Just blocks from NRG Park sits Filipino fast-food spot Jollibee which since 2013 has had a steady crowd of Filipino expats digging into fried chicken, burgers and noodles on a daily basis. It's been called the "McDonald's of the Philippines" for its market dominance.

With the city's international reputation as a hub of diversity growing we're likely to see plenty of other overseas companies coming to the Houston area to see if they can become daily parts of Texans' lives.

Craig Hlavaty covers Houston history and pop-culture. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | craig.hlavaty@chron.com