VietNamNet Bridge – Despite great efforts to attract customers, shopping malls in large cities continue to have problems attracting many customers.

Meanwhile, James Hawkey of Cushman & Wakefield Asia Pacific said it is too early to say the market is experiencing an oversupply.

It is 10 am on a Sunday. Union Square, a high-end shopping mall in HCM City appeared to be quiet. Half an hour later, some people entered the mall. But they did not visit luxury shops. They just visited shops where they saw notices about a 50 percent sale. However, they did not buy anything from the shops.

After wandering about the shops, they went downstairs to a restaurant in the basement. These restaurants are the busiest places at Union Square.

Hung Vuong Plaza, which is “less luxurious” than Union Square, also cannot attract many customers these days. Hoa, the owner of a cosmetic shop, said sales had been falling dramatically since 2013.

“Some days I do not sell any jars of cream,” she said.

Trang, a petty merchant at An Dong Plaza, said there were fewer wholesale buyers and the retail premises rents were rising, so she is considering leaving for other shopping malls that “have lower rents”.

“I am eyeing Hung Vuong Square, which is not far from here (An Dong Plaza). I heard that merchants there pay rent monthly. This will help a lot,” she said.

Thuan Kieu Plaza, Parkson, Diamond Plaza and Bitexco’s Icon 68 all are facing the same situation. Established as high-end shopping malls, they have changed sale policies, trying to attract middle-class customers by offering more mid-tier products at more reasonable prices.

Lan, a children’s clothes merchant at Parkson Le Thanh Ton, said previously, she focused on high-end products worth millions of dong. But now, her main source of income comes from middle-class products, priced at VND200,000-300,000.

Though Hanoi has fewer shopping malls than HCM City, retailers have also been meeting difficulties. Parkson Landmark has unexpectedly closed.

Though the retailer emphasized that the closure was just temporary and that it would reopen on January 7, the shopping mall is still closed.

Trang Tien Plaza has opened again after four months of “restructuring”. However, it is no longer a luxury shopping mall, as products priced at tens or hundreds of thousands of dong are now available together with high-end products.

Marc Townsend from CBRE Vietnam, a real estate service provider, noted that as demand is weak, retailers have had to reconsider their sale policies.

Mai Thanh