VinMart to become WinMart

A year after conglomerate Masan Group acquired it from Vingroup, the VinMart retail chain is set to become WinMart.

The rebranding would take place after the restructuring of the retail chain is complete, Truong Cong Thang, CEO of The CrownX, a subsidiary that operates VinMart, said at the Masan annual general meeting Thursday.

The CrownX reported a 14 percent rise in revenues last year to VND31 trillion ($1.35 billion), with VinMart+ convenience stores achieving revenue growth of 42 percent despite shutting down over 744 underperforming stores.

Danny Le, CEO of Masan Group, said the company plans to increase the number of VinMart and VinMart+ outlets by 30,000 in the next five years, with 20,000 of them being franchised.

In December 2019, the company acquired a 83.74 percent stake in VinCommerce, the subsidiary of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate, Vingroup, which operated VinMart chain.

The chain, which reported a $100-million loss in 2019, broke even last year, and Masan now targets annual sales of $7-10 billion and double-digit profit growth by 2025.