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Foreign retailers flock to Vietnam

More retail brands have opened in large cities and existing brands have expanded their networks in Vietnam.

After opening three shops in Hanoi at the same time, Uniqlo has opened another store in Thu Thiem in HCM City. The company has opened 15 retail stores within three years in Vietnam.

The Uniqlo network has been expanding more rapidly than other fashion retailers. Osamu Ikezoe, CEO of Uniqlo Vietnam, said that Vietnam is among its most important markets.

MUJI has opened its fourth store in Vietnam in District 7, HCM City. Established in 1980, the Japanese retailer has over 1,000 stores in the world.

In early November, Thiso, a subsidiary of Thaco, opened the Emart Sala supermarket in Thu Duc City. This is the second supermarket of the Korean retail brand in Vietnam.

According to Savills Vietnam’s CEO Neil MacGregor, some new luxury and high-end brands such as Berluti, Cartier, Victoria’s Secret and Urban Revivo are entering the market, while large retail chains such as Haidilao and Central Group are speeding up expansion in Vietnam. Some brands are joining the market through online sales before opening stores such as Sephora, Perfect Diary and Maje.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the total goods and service retail turnover in November reached VND514.1 trillion, 2.6 percent up over October and 17.5 percent up month-on-month. In January-November 2022, the total goods and service retail turnover was VND5.180 trillion, up 20.5 percent year-on-year.

Neil MacGregor believed that Vietnam is in the period with optimistic demographic indicators, which is the driving force for domestic spending, the growth of the middle class, demand for accommodation, retail spending and growth.

Nick Bradstreet from Savills commented that Vietnam has great advantages to jump higher than neighboring markets such as Singapore and Thailand, where most famous international brands have been present. 

From H&M, Zara to Louis Vuitton and Dior all have opened 5-6 stores in Singapore and Bangkok, while they only have 1-2 stores in Vietnam. Therefore, analysts believed that the brands would come to Vietnam to expand the market.

Vu Thi Hau, chair of the Vietnam Retailer Association, said 2023 would be the year of the full recovery of the retail industry after the pandemic.

Duy Anh

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/en/foreign-retailers-flock-to-vietnam-2093131.html