VietNamNet Bridge – Supermarkets remain cool these days because of the low purchasing power, but the competition among supermarket chains has got scorching hot.

In May alone, a series of supermarkets and retail points opened in HCM City, which is the biggest commercial hub in Vietnam.

Co-op Xtra Plus hypermarket, the product of the joint venture between Vietnamese Saigon Co-op and Singaporean NTUC FairPrice, was opened in Thu Duc district in mid May. The opening of the hypermarket was a big event in the eyes of Saigonese, who, for the first time, can see a supermarket which both retails and wholesales.

The move, in the eyes of analysts, showed the big ambition of the big guy Saigon Co-op, which aims to satisfy a wide range of customers, from those, who buy products in small quantities to the businesses and small merchants who buy goods in big quantities for reselling.

Just within 10 days, the retailer from France, Big C of Casino Group, opened two supermarkets in the two northern provinces of Ninh Binh on May 19, and Phu Tho on May 29.

The Saigon Trade Corporation on May 28 opened another Satrafoods, a food convenient store in Go Vap district in HCM City, the 21st shop of its Satrafoods chain and the second in the same district.

More retail shops are expected to open from now to the end of the year. The race among retailers to open more retail shops to expand their networks has become hotter than ever.

Tran Van Bac, Deputy General Director of Satra, said the chain plans to open 30 shops in 2013, and 15-20 more shops every year in the next years, so that Satra’s shops would be available everywhere in HCM City.

Bac said that food convenient stores are the distribution model which is allowed to be expanded rapidly, because the stores do not require large areas and big investments.

In preparing for the food convenient store network development, Satra has decided to set up a management board in charge of regulating Satrafoods, the head of which is a very well-known portrait with good experiences, who once undertook similar posts at other distribution chains.

Meanwhile, the retail network’s management board has been asked to look for retail premises to serve the network expansion plan.

Also according to Bac, in 2013, Satra would set up one more shopping mall on Vo Van Kiet boulevard, which would comprise of many items, from supermarket, amusement area, wedding party restaurant and cinema.

Meanwhile, Saigon Co-op has decided that it needs to have 9 more supermarkets and 24 Co-op Food shops in 2013, besides the hypermarket opened on May 17.

Maximark is moving ahead with its plan to open a shopping mall on Nguyen Thai Son Street in Go Vap district. Once the project is put into operation, Maximark would have six supermarkets in its network in HCM City, Can Tho and Khanh Hoa province.

Lotte Mart, the retailer from South Korea, is going to put two supermarkets into operation by the end of the year. These include the one in Thuan An town of Binh Duong province and the one in Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan province. As such, it would have six supermarkets nationwide by the end of 2013.

TBKTSG