Vietnam consumer-goods company Masan Group says it plans to shut down hundreds of VinMart and VinMart+ stores it purchased from VinGroup last year.
The company said they will open 10-30 new Vinmart supermarkets and close 100-300 Vinmart+ stores this year to focus on improving profitability of existing locations instead of following the program of massive expansion followed by the previous owner.
Masan will shift its focus to supermarkets of less than 1500 sqm that bring the best revenue, cut inefficient supermarkets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang and Can Tho and expand into tier 2 cities and within Vincom shopping centres.
The VinMart+ chain operated 2888 stores last year and had targeted opening 300 to 500 new stores while closing 150-300 less efficient stores.
Post merger, Masan aims to increase VinCommerce’s revenue to more than VND42 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 64 per cent. Masan has spent an estimated VND5.4 trillion (US$233 million) to buy a controlling stake in VinCommerce, which runs VinMart and VinMart+ stores in 50 provinces and cities and 14 VinEco hi-tech farms.
Meanwhile, VinGroup closed its VinPro chain of appliance stores on December 31 and has since announced the closure of a network of smartphone stores trading under the Vien Thong A brand. And this week, VinGroup said it was dropping plans to launch an airline as well as it seeks to focus its business on industrial categories – including cars (VinFast), and phones and flatscreen TVs (VinSmart) – along with its Vincom shopping centres and VinPearl resorts.
