Noisy land return: Shops become places for graffiti, places for motorbike taxi drivers to stay

Two technology motorbike taxi drivers and technology delivery drivers take a break under the awning of a store on Le Van Sy Street. This place used to be a bustling shopping area, home to many famous fashion brands - Photo: NGOC HIEN

Business streets in Ho Chi Minh City continue to fall into a slump as many shop owners leave one by one, leaving behind premises covered with red and green rental advertisements plastered all over the facade.

Return premises, business cluster

Le Van Sy fashion street (District 3 and Phu Nhuan District) has hundreds of large and small fashion brands present, mixed in with the open stores are a series of closed stores, relocated or closed, and ceased business.

There are stores that hang signs saying "clearing inventory, returning premises" to salvage before closing. There are even streets where 3-4 consecutive stores are returning their premises at the same time, or there are corners where entire rows of large premises have left the market.

A survey by Tuoi Tre Online shows that there are currently more than 20 premises with signs for rent on this street.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thuan (owner of a fashion store on Le Van Sy Street) said that he opened a fashion store in 2019, trying to survive the pandemic, but by 2023 and early this year, purchasing power had dropped sharply, causing revenue to not cover the cost of premises and staff.

Therefore, Mr. Thuan was forced to temporarily suspend business, return the premises and wait for a better economic period to reopen a new store.

Similarly, on Nguyen Trai Street and Hai Ba Trung Street in the city center, many stores have hung signs for rent, even though they were previously fashion, cosmetics, or food stores.

Meanwhile, more than 10 premises on the "golden street" Le Loi (District 1) are still vacant and have become places for technology motorbike taxi drivers to rest and pick up passengers or spaces for people to draw graffiti.

Consecutive shops on Le Loi Street (District 1) have become places for graffiti after being left empty for many years - Photo: NGOC HIEN

Many industries are in decline.

Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Hung - permanent vice president of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association (HUBA) - said that due to many difficulties, some large retail brands such as Mobile World, FPT ... were forced to close a series of stores, shops and stalls with sluggish business, leading to the situation of returning premises on many previously busy streets and commercial areas.

In front of a space on Hai Ba Trung Street is now a place for street vendors to make a living - Photo: NGOC HIEN

According to HUBA, the significant increase in cheap consumer goods from China has put significant pressure on Vietnamese businesses.

Not only that, the current uncontrolled trend of online sales advertising (livestream) is said to be threatening and suffocating the survival space of small-scale manufacturers, breaking traditional price standards, making it difficult to ensure quality, and spreading the situation of not paying taxes...

HUBA believes that the trade and retail sectors have recorded a significant decline in purchasing power, with some product lines down by 50-60% and forecast to continue to decrease by 10% in the coming months.

A large house that used to be a place for entertainment services for young people in Ho Chi Minh City is now just an empty space with many signs for rent - Photo: NGOC HIEN

A supermarket on the corner of the street has closed, leaving the porch and sidewalk around the area a place for scrap dealers to gather and motorbike taxi drivers to take a nap and wait for customers - Photo: NGOC HIEN

The facades of the shabby premises appear frequently on the central streets of the city - Photo: NGOC HIEN

A fashion store hung a sign to return the premises and discount products until June 30 - Photo: NGOC HIEN

Inside a karaoke bar now littered with luxurious sofas that have faded and been covered in dust over time - Photo: NGOC HIEN

On Nguyen Trai fashion street, there are many closed shops and many advertisements for sale and rental of premises - Photo: NGOC HIEN

A man collects scrap from a site under repair on Nguyen Trai Street - Photo: NGOC HIEN

A space has become the focus of advertising and graffiti for many years in District 1 - Photo: NGOC HIEN

Besides the closed stores, many new shops are also renovating to join the difficult market - Photo: NGOC HIEN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ram-ro-tra-mat-bang-quan-xa-thanh-noi-ve-bay-chon-xe-om-tru-chan-20240630180939276.htm