Shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh City upgrades premises to attract customers

Recently, some shopping malls in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City have become deserted and deserted as the number of visitors coming to play and shop has decreased.

Recorded at a shopping mall on Phan Van Tri Street (Go Vap District), the scene was quite deserted, with many areas of stalls "closed and locked" even on weekends.

Ms. Phuong Hang - a sales staff here shared: "Consumers are more frugal in shopping, so on weekends they only come to have fun, but the number of customers is not as large as before. On weekdays, there are only a few customers."

Many spaces in the shopping mall are empty of tenants. Photo: Ha May

Meanwhile, in the inner city, some shopping malls are expanding, upgrading and renovating, which has made the shopping market more vibrant in the last months of the year.

Typically, in the third quarter of 2023, Hung Vuong Plaza Commercial Center (District 5) with a leased area of 25,000 m2 was re-operated after being closed for repairs and changing owners.

Currently, the owner of Hung Vuong Plaza is CEO of Kinh Do Group (KIDO) - Mr. Tran Le Nguyen. After the renovation, Hung Vuong Plaza has been upgraded with entrances from 4 facades, instead of two doors as before. In addition, the rental price of this commercial center has increased from 30 USD to 95 USD/m2/month.

Hung Vuong Plaza Shopping Center — Hung Vuong Plaza shopping center changes its appearance to welcome customers. Photo: Thanh Vu

This “transformation” has attracted a large number of customers to shop, eat, and have fun at the stores here. On the KIDO side, the business representative said that the occupancy rate at this shopping center is very high, most of which are already owned.

Besides the brands that have opened, some other brands are busy constructing and preparing to open early to welcome customers at the end of the year.

According to Savills' Q3/2023 market report, the supply of retail space for lease in Ho Chi Minh City has decreased slightly, with a total floor area of about 1.5 million square meters. This slight decrease is the result of some retail projects being converted into offices or being put up for sale.

Ms. Tran Pham Phuong Quyen - Retail Leasing Manager of Savills Vietnam said that currently, retailers as well as investors are making efforts in activities to prepare for the peak shopping season at the end of the year. Along with that, a series of new brands are rushing to prepare the final steps to open their first stores in Vietnam.

From now until the end of the year, Vietnam will welcome a series of large-scale commercial center projects. In addition, several retail podiums in residential areas are also in the process of rushing to lease projects, expected to open from the end of this year or the first quarter of 2024.

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