Host of foreign retailers set up shop

Vietnam’s retail sector holds vast potential for development

Central Group, Thailand’s leading retailer, will open its second Robins department store at Crescent Mall, District 7, just 15 minutes from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City late this week. It will occupy 10,000 square metres over four floors at Crescent Mall.

According to Central Group, the company would continue to expand Robins department stores in Vietnam in the coming time. The Thai retailer officially set foot in Vietnam in March with its 10,000 square-metre Robins store at Royal City in Hanoi, its first overseas.

Central Group is looking for local partners in Vietnam and is seeking an European fashion and luxury-goods brand franchise worth about $50 million, the company confirmed.

In July this year, under a franchise operated by the Central Group, Iconic British retailer Marks & Spencer entered the Vietnamese market with a new flagship store in Ho Chi Minh City. The store offers an extensive range of women’s wear, men’s wear and lingerie as well as accessories, shoes and sleepwear.

Tos Chirativat, CEO of Central Group, said that with 90 million residents and growing middle class, Vietnam was an exciting market with high potential for growth and an excellent destination for investors in the retail sector.

In a similar move, last week, South Korean retailer Lotte Mart continued its assertive push into Vietnam with a $29 million/30,000 square-metre shopping centre in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Lotte currently operates eight shopping centres – two in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi respectively, and one in Dong Nai, Danang, Binh Duong and Binh Thuan. By 2020, Lotte Mart aims to have expanded its chain here to 60 supermarkets.

By entering the market early, the company believes that it will be able to select the best strategic locations in Vietnam’s marketplace, Hong Won Sik, general director of Lotte Mart Vietnam told VIR.