Aeonmalll supermarket
Accelerating to dominate the market
In spite of the COVID-19 epidemic, the joint venture between BRG group (Vietnam) and Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) is preparing to launch the second FujiMart supermarket at Hoan Cau street, Dong Da district, Hanoi. Earlier, the first FujiMart supermarket in Hanoi, which opened in the end of 2018, operates very successfully.
FujiMart is not the only retail brand of Japan that chose this difficult period to inaugurate stores. The famous fashion brand Uniqlo also launched the first store in Hanoi.
In Ho Chi Minh city, in the end of July, Muji also opened the first Pop-up store in Parkson trade center. This is considered a tipping step for the official store to be inaugurated at the end of 2020. Also in the southern hub, Miki House, a high-end fashion brand for children, also opened the first store on Tran Quang Khai street, District 1, and Matsumoto Kiyoshi cosmetics company is considering business in Vietnam.
These businesses are extending the list of Japanese retailers entering the Vietnamese market. In fact, they have planned opening business in Vietnam for a long time after the success of the fellow Japanese companies paved the way like Aeon and Takashimaya.
Mr. Nishitohge Yasuo, Aeon Vietnam General Director, said that Aeon expects to open its sixth trade center in Hai Phong at the end of the year and will invest in a trade center in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi in the near future.
Welcoming a market of nearly USD200 billion
In the circumstance of many famous foreign brands withdrawing from Vietnam due to competitiveness pressure and impacts from the COVID-19 epidemic; Aeon, Family Mart, MiniStop, 7-Eleven and Japanese retail brands continuing to choose Vietnam showed the huge potential of the market of nearly 100 million people.
Hirai Shinji, Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Ho Chi Minh City, said that the inflow of investment from Japan into non-manufacturing and retail activities increased significantly.
“The opening of Uniqlo stores in Ho Chi Minh city at the end of 2019 and recently in Hanoi showed Vietnam is a very potential market which will attract the attention of many other Japanese businesses,” he added.
According to a report by the General Statistics Office (GSO), Vietnam’s retail sales of goods in the first 7 months of 2020 increased 3.6% compared to the same period last year, worth more than VND2.21 quadrillion. With an average growth rate of more than 10% a year, the Vietnam retail market has been named among Top attractive destinations to foreign investors.
In 2019, the country’s retail sales of goods were estimated at more than USD161 billion, up nearly USD18.9 billion against 2018.
According to experts, if the high growth rate over the past year is maintained, the Vietnam retail market is expected to reach USD200 billion in the next two years./.