VietNamNet Bridge - The concern about the number of retail premises in HCM City became more intense after Parkson Paragon closed. 

Located outside the central area of the city, Parkson Paragon was prominent in Phu My Hung new urban area, on Nguyen Luong Bang street, the financial heart of the area.

However, the advantageous position could not help Parkson Paragon, especially when it had to share the pieces of the market cake with many other retailers with similar business models in HCM City.

On May 16, 2016, Parkson Paragon announced closure after five years of operation. In 2011, Parkson became the manager of Saigon Paragon shopping mall, expected for 19 years, and then renamed the shopping mall Parkson Paragon.

The concern about the number of retail premises in HCM City became more intense after Parkson Paragon closed.

The departure of the retailer who has good understanding about the Vietnamese market and has been present in Vietnam over a decade (it set foot in Vietnam in 2005) has raised worries about market saturation and oversupply of retail premises in the southern area in particular and HCM City in general.

A report from Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam released in early May showed that there are 131 retail centers in HCM City, including 30 in the central area and 101 in non-central ones. The total retail premises area is 1.13 million square meters, and 300,000 square meters more are expected to join the market this year.

District 1 in the center of the city is the area where most shopping malls are located, about 16 percent of total retail premises supply. Meanwhile, more and more retail premises have appeared in non-central districts and the suburbs. 

The eastern part of the city, including districts 2, 9, Thu Duc and Binh Thanh, for example, now have 240,000 square meters of retail premises. The southern part of the city, mostly district 7, has 145,000 square meters, and the western part 135,000 square meters.

The retail centers which have just joined the retail market in the last four months include Vincom Plaza Go Vap, Vincom Plaza Le Van Viet and Lotte Mart Go Vap which provides an additional retail premises area of 84,000 square meters to the market.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, the retail premises area in district 7 is relatively high, about 140,000 square meters, but the density of retail space per capita is not high.

Huynh Phuoc Nghia, a senior advisor from GIBC, a consultancy firm, said the total square meters of retail premises per capita in HCM City were still far below the warning level.


VNE