Malaysian retailer leaves Hanoi after two stormy years

After closing some of its department stores in Hanoi within a two-year period, Parkson, a retail giant from Malaysia, has officially decided to leave the capital. Parkson Viet Tower on Thai Ha street will close on December 15. Meanwhile, Vincom, just opened Vincom Pham Ngoc Thach in early November.

In early 2015, Parkson closed Parkson Keangnam Hanoi Landmark. The closure produced a big stir as the owners of the shops were asked to move at night.

In May 2016, Parkson shut down Parkson Paragon in Phu My Hung Urban Area in district 7 in HCM City.

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.

Parkson still maintains seven malls in three cities, including five in HCM City: Parkson Saigontourist in district 1, Parkson Hung Vuong Plaza in district 5, Parkson C.T Plaza in Tan Binh district, Parkson Cantavil Premier in district 2 and Parkson The Flemington in district 11. The latter has not had good customer traffic.

It also has Parkson TD Plaza in Hai Phong City and Parkson Vinh Trung Plaza in Da Nang. Sources said the business in Da Nang has not been satisfactory.

Parkson is a brand of Lion Group from Malaysia. Analysts believe that the insistence on the ‘department store’ model put Parkson at a disadvantage in comparison with the ‘shopping mall’ model applied by other big brands such as Vincom, Aeon, Mipec and Crescent Mall.

Parkson has also had to share the branded-goods market with new rivals. And a series of counterfeit goods scandals also contributed to Parkson’s unsatisfactory business results.

In 2010, when many retail brands appeared in Vietnam and the shopping mall model joined the market, Parkson became entangled in some scandals on counterfeit goods.

Topics like ‘be cautious when buying goods at Parkson’ or ‘Parkson sells fake goods’ were shared on forums. Many customers also made complaints about the service quality at Parkson centers.

Parkson admitted that it will face big problems in the last quarter of the 2016 fiscal year. The retailer has not mentioned the opening of more stores in Vietnam in its strategy to expand its network in SE Asia.