VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of outlets quietly disappeared from the market in 2012-2013, which made people think that the business mode “died young” in Vietnam. However, it is now recovering.

Outlets, which first appeared in Vietnam five years ago, are understood as the places which sell authentic branded goods with big discounts. The sale-off, up to 30-80 percent, makes the outlets very attractive to shopaholics.

Shops or outlets?

Nine West’s outlet on Nguyen Trai Street, Esprit’s on Pham Hong Thai, Del Amo on Nguyen Hue, and Elle on Cao Thang Street in HCM City had not existed in the market since mid-2013.

Prior to that, Premium Outlet on Pham Van Hai Street in Tan Binh district also quietly left the market.

Commenting about the disappearance of the outlets, analysts said that a lot of shoppers felt disappointed when going shopping there, where there were not many choices for them.

Most of the outlets were mono-outlets, which meant that only the products of some certain brands were available there. The limited amounts of goods only could retain the visitors for no more than 20 minutes.

Thuy Linh, the director of a transport firm in HCM City, commented that the outlets in Vietnam are not really attractive. “The goods there are not plentiful enough for choice. More seriously, fake goods are also available at the outlets.”

Vietnamese outlets will boom again

The death of many outlets in HCM City did not discourage investors. Sources have said that the big guys in the fashion industry are preparing to bring outlets back to the market.

The investors believe that some outlets had to shut down just because they did not follow the right track, and that the business mode, which has been very successful all over the world, will also succeed in Vietnam.

In November 2013, Hoang Phuc International opened two outlets in districts 5 and Go Vap, raising the number of its outlets in HCM City to six.

Specializing in distributing the fashion goods with Dr. Martens, Kappa, Ecko and Skechers brands, the company has been applying a flexible sales policy which aims to satisfy all customers.

Established in late 2010, ACFC, a subsidiary of IPP, the distributor of fashion branded goods, set up two outlets to “clear” the inventory goods.

In late 2013, another large outlet, covering an area of 500 square meters at Super Bowl, was opened.

On Cong Hoa Street, the outlet distributing CK and Nike branded goods, is always full of shoppers.

Middle class brands have also set up their outlets to boost sales. However, the items on display there are not the out-of-season products, but the products “coming directly from the factories.”

F.O.S (Fashion Outlet Store Co Ltd), distributing tens of thousands of products imported from Malaysia, has had five outlets in HCM City.

F.O.S’ first outlet was set up at Crescent Mall in district 7, HCM City. The network also has outlets in Hai Phong and Hanoi Cities in the north, which sell the goods of Playtime Dress, Old Skool Tees, Northern Rock or Giovanni Valentino.

SGTT