After Tet, Nghe An retail market is quiet

It was 9am but Ms. Duong Hang, who sells shoes at Vinh train station market, had just opened her kiosk. “I was anxious at home but there were no customers. There were days when customers came in at 4pm, and there were days when I opened it and sat there, not selling a single pair,” Ms. Hang said. So today, she only opened her kiosk “in case someone buys,” and didn’t bother to pack her goods outside.

Not only the shoe stalls, although International Women's Day is coming, the stalls selling cosmetics, accessories, handbags, and gifts are also quite deserted, with few people passing by. According to observations, at this time, Vinh train station market only has about 60% of the stalls reopened for business, the rest are closed, or open one day, not the next, or some stall owners are waiting to liquidate and resell their stalls.

At 10am on March 5, Vinh market was still very deserted. Photo: TP

At Vinh market, the buying and selling atmosphere is also very quiet. If on the 2nd floor of the main hall - the place where ready-made clothes are sold is quite bustling when the weather changes, small traders import summer goods to sell wholesale to wholesalers.

Ms. Le Dung - Owner of a kiosk specializing in men's clothing said: "We have just imported summer goods, and are sorting and preparing goods for wholesalers in district markets. Compared to last year, the amount of imported goods has decreased sharply, because the district markets are also slow, so they also limit the amount of goods they take, only taking what they can sell, not daring to stock up on too much. We mainly sell wholesale, as few retail customers come to the counter to buy."

Selling household appliances on the first floor of Vinh Market's main hall for decades, according to Ms. Phuong Hien, there has never been a year after Tet when business was as sluggish as this year. Although she tried to stay at the market from 7am to 5:30pm, only a few people came in to ask to buy.

Summer clothes have been sold in abundance but there are still few buyers. Photo: TP

“Normally, business is already slow, and after Tet it is even more sluggish. Everything we needed to buy was already bought before Tet, so now there is no need,” Ms. Hien sighed.

After the peak Tet season, the supply of goods is abundant again, prices have cooled down a lot, however, purchasing power at traditional markets and supermarkets is decreasing sharply. Not only clothing, shoes, accessories but also green vegetables and fresh food are still difficult to consume.

The reason is that many families have done a lot of shopping for Tet, so there is still food left in the freezer, so the purchasing power of food has also decreased. In particular, currently, the control of alcohol concentration is tightened, so the number of customers at restaurants has also decreased significantly, so the meat and vegetable stalls supplying the restaurants have also decreased their consumption.

Food stalls at Vinh Railway Station market are equally deserted. Photo: TP

Mr. Nguyen Huu Dac - Head of Vinh Market Management Board said: "After the Covid-19 pandemic, about 15% of kiosks have stopped operating. During Tet, business showed signs of improvement and recovery. However, after Tet, consumption at the market decreased sharply. Difficulties are the current general situation, not just Vinh market.

Despite the difficulties and sluggishness, according to Mr. Dac, long-time traders will not abandon the market. After Tet, 90% of people have opened stalls, returned to business, and tried to stay. We also try to build a clean, beautiful, and safe market, with public prices for goods, friendly and cheerful traders, "pleasing customers coming and going" to attract customers to the market," Mr. Dac added.

Many stalls closed due to poor business. Photo: TP

At supermarkets, shopping malls, and large retail chains, purchasing power has also decreased compared to many other times of the year. Mr. Tran An Khang, representative of a large supermarket in Vinh City, said: “From February 15 until now, purchasing power at supermarkets has decreased by about 10% compared to many other times of the year. This is also the “lowest” season of the retail market because before Tet, people buy a large amount of goods that they have not used up. Moreover, consumers will also balance and calculate their spending more because before Tet they “generously” spent a large amount of money on shopping.”

Supermarkets are also in the "low" shopping season. Photo: TP

As usual, the purchasing power increases sharply during Tet, but after the biggest holiday of the year ends, the market is usually gloomy for about 1-2 months because of reduced consumer demand. The decrease in purchasing power causes business activities to fall into a difficult situation. Therefore, small traders all hope that in the coming time, purchasing power will increase, the market will stabilize soon, and business will be more favorable.

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