Vietnamese grocer pulls out of south

Fivimart, a Hanoi-based supermarket chain, has retrenched back to the north in a bid to rebuild its foundations.

The company had five outlets in southern region, four of them in Ho Chi Minh, which have now all been closed. But it’s vowed to return to the market.

Fivimart this month closed its last store in Ho Chi Minh – in District 7, where Hong Kong based Dairy farm International opened a western style hypermart in December.

According to Fivimart deputy director Vu Thi Hau, high rental cost, tightened consumer spending and increased operating cost were seen to be the cause of the forced closure of the supermarkets.

“Premises at the end of one-way streets, shopping centers that are both popular and high-class, or on the border of high-income residential and poor workers’ areas are very risky to open stores,” said Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, investor at supermarket chain Citimart.

Meanwhile, Fivimart’s 13 outlets in Hanoi are all operational.

Still hoping to see the dawn, Fivimart plans to open three new stores in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh this year.

“We are planning to open three stores in HCMC and Hanoi within this year,” said Hau, adding that the southern economic hub is still an attractive market for Fivimart.

GB

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