Social Affairs
Zara to open its first store in Hanoi in November
After the launches of H&M, Pull&Bear and Stradivarius in Ho Chi Minh city in September, this will be a welcome news for fashionista in Hanoi, as Spanish retailer Zara is seen as one of the most favorite “fast fashion” brand in the world.
Vietnam promises great opportunities for Zara as the majority of its population are young to middle age, Zara Vietnam wrote on its website. “The rapid urbanization and globalization in Vietnam has seen the number of consumers who care about international high street fashion increase dramatically,” it said. Zara made the decision to enter the market because of the potential from more and more young Vietnamese pursuing fashions not readily available in the country.
As such, the first store of Zara in Hanoi will be opened in November at the Ba Trieu Vincom Center, much to the delight of fashionista in Hanoi. Previously, there has been rumours since the beginning of 2017 that Zara will officially be launched in Hanoi in October.
However, due to some unknown reasons that the plan was delayed to November. At present, a part of the Tower A of the Ba Trieu Vincom Center has been covered to prepare for the launching ceremony of the fast fashion brand. At the same time, Zara also put up the sign “Opening soon” at a section within Vincom, which is seen as an unofficial announcement for its presence. However, up until present, all preparation process has been completed. Zara is expected to have two stores in the Ba Trieu Vincom Center, as large areas on the first floor and second floor have been boarded up for renovation. Tenants have been moved to make room for a ‘coming soon’ fashion brand.
Zara came to Vietnam last September with the first store at Vincom Dong Khoi, Ho Chi Minh City, covering 2400 sqm over two levels. The store reportedly achieved sales of VND 5.5 billion (US$246,000) on its first day’s trading. Early this month, H&M confirmed it would open at the same center, becoming Zara’s neighbor.
Currently revenue of Zara Vietnam is in the top 5 for the highest revenue stores of the brand in the world. This is seen as strong motivation for other fashion brands such as Uniqlo and Forever21 to approach Vietnam fashion market.
According to the estimation of Hanoi Supermarket Association, approx. 50% of the retail market shares in Vietnam is belong to foreign companies. However, experts said the number in reality is even higher. Based on this estimation, in the future, operation of domestic retailers can be narrowed due to the lack of experience, investment scale and qualified human resources.
Besides, the Vietnam retail market is seen as promised land for foreign investors. As such, they are willing to invest into local enterprises to serve the purpose of expanding the retail market and development in fields of food & beverage, entertainment, education. The manufacturing process for retailing is also progressing positively, with the trend of producing goods at site is growing, due to competitive price and meet the demand of customers.
Zara also put up the sign “Opening soon” at a section within Vincom.
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Zara came to Vietnam last September with the first store at Vincom Dong Khoi, Ho Chi Minh City, covering 2400 sqm over two levels. The store reportedly achieved sales of VND 5.5 billion (US$246,000) on its first day’s trading. Early this month, H&M confirmed it would open at the same center, becoming Zara’s neighbor.
Zara is expected to have two stores in the Ba Trieu Vincom Center, as large areas on the first floor and second floor have been boarded up for renovation.
|
According to the estimation of Hanoi Supermarket Association, approx. 50% of the retail market shares in Vietnam is belong to foreign companies. However, experts said the number in reality is even higher. Based on this estimation, in the future, operation of domestic retailers can be narrowed due to the lack of experience, investment scale and qualified human resources.
Besides, the Vietnam retail market is seen as promised land for foreign investors. As such, they are willing to invest into local enterprises to serve the purpose of expanding the retail market and development in fields of food & beverage, entertainment, education. The manufacturing process for retailing is also progressing positively, with the trend of producing goods at site is growing, due to competitive price and meet the demand of customers.
