Parkson to give up on full-scale stores in Vietnam

However, local Vietnamese media are reporting the store will reopen this Friday, July 31, but only take up the ground floor, a compact area which previously housed only a beauty zone and a large part of which has been taken over by Uniqlo.

Parkson Vietnam began renovating its six-story Ho Chi Minh City store in the Saigon Tourist Plaza building in April of last year. In recent months, a billboard has been placed on the remaining front of part of the building saying it will reopen soon.

At the time the refurbishment was announced, the company said the aim was to deliver a new shopping experience featuring modern facilities, and a higher standard of service for shoppers. But it appears as if almost all the categories it once sold will be stripped out leaving just a beauty offer.

Parkson said the new store design concept “will turn the store into an all-in-one destination that offers a combination of shopping, food & beverage, and entertainment” (translated).

It appears that Parkson has finally admitted defeat in a market where it moved rapidly into neighborhoods with relatively low incomes, selling products that could be obtained cheaper elsewhere, and with archaic customer-service systems. One example was if a customer wanted to buy a set of towels from one concession, they had to walk to the opposite end of the floor and pay for them before being allowed back to browse other items on an adjacent display. Buying multiple items – as customers of a department store often to – required an endless series of return route marches, escorted by store staff, to a cashier’s counter, multiple debit-card transactions and multiple shopping bags – yet all transactions were processed by Parkson itself who would later reimburse concessions for goods purchased.

In October 2018, Parkson Vietnam announced its fifth store closure, in the affluent expatriate suburb of An Phu. Three more followed before this week’s Haiphong announcement.