A series of Bach Hoa Xanh stores, a retail brand of The Gioi Di Dong, have closed, including ones which opened in late 2021. The stores are mostly in HCM City.

Bach Hoa Xanh had 2,140 stores as of April 2022. However, the figure dropped to 1,952 as of July 12 as shown on its official website bachhoaxanh.com. And just one day later, the figure fell further to 1,824. 

The move is part of a plan on repositioning and consolidating the operating foundation for Bach Hoa Xanh, mentioned in business reports of the first five months of 2022.

The Gioi Di Dong launched Bach Hoa Xanh chain in 2015, but only in 2020-2021 did the chain begin seeing explosive growth thanks to Covid-19.

In 2020, as many as 700 stores were opened, or 58 stores each month. By the end of 2021, Bach Hoa Xanh had over 2,000 sale points. 

The chain opened 131 stores in May 2020 alone and 121 in June 2020. As of May 2021, the number of stores of the chain had increased by 3.3 times compared with May 2019.

Along with the news about the closure of hundreds of Bach Hoa Xanh stores, another piece of news was surprising: MWG has stopped the operation of its two networks, related to AVAFashion and AVAJi. At present, AVAJi sells only watches.

AVAFashion’s sales website stopped operation on June 29, and users are being redirected to the website of AVASport, which distributes sportswear. 

In January 2022, MWG set up five networks with AVA brand, including AVAFashion (fashion products), AVASport (branded sportswear), AVAKids (products for mothers and kids), AVAJi (watches, jewelries, glass) and AVACycle (bicycles).

Most recently, MWG officially jumped into the field of technology accessories distribution, selling chargers, headphones, mice, keyboards and other items, which were previously only sold as associated products to clients who bought smartphones and electronic devices.

MWG is the first enterprise to "encroach" on the field of retail tech accessories. Prior to that, the products were only found at privately owned small shops.

There are no official statistics about the number of tech accessories stores, but the closure of a series of stores has led to doubts about the feasibility of the retail chains.

On July 15, MWG shares saw prices fall by VND1,100 per share, or 1.8 percent, to VND61,500 per share. 

Ngoc Cuong