VietNamNet Bridge – While the real estate market has been freezing for the last several years, the high end retail premises market has always been boisterous.

There are the so called “golden land areas” in HCM City – the commercial hubs, where the retail premises rents have always been sky high, despite the economic crisis.

Three home appliance centers, De Nhat Phan Khang, Pico and Nguyen Kim all set up their shops on the area belonging to the Cong Hoa and Hoang Van Thu roads in Tan Binh district.

On Cong Hoa Street alone, one can see the fast food shops bearing the most famous brands in the world such as Burger King, Domino Pizza, Pizza Inn, Pizza Hut, KFC, Lotteria and Carls Jr.

On a short stretch of Cong Hoa – Truong Chinh intersection alone, there are one Lotteria shop that faces Cong Hoa Street, and one KFC shop. Some sources said the retail premises where KFC’s shop is located now would be taken over by Lotteria after August 2013.

The stretch of Tran Hung Dao road, from Ben Thanh Market to the Nguyen Van Cu crossroads in district 1, is considered the “road of fast food brands”. It is expected that McDonald’s would set up one of its shops there. Besides, there are also the shops of Lotteria, Pizza family shops, KFC and Jollibee as well.

A senior executive of Lotteria, the fast food chain which has been present in Vietnam for a long time, said retail premises are getting scarcer, while the landlords have become choosier when leasing premises. In most of cases, the retail premises leasing contracts last three years only instead of five years as previously seen. Meanwhile, the rents would be adjusted regularly.

Meanwhile, the majority of investors cannot make profit right in the first year of operation. They can only begin making profits after 3 years of operation.

Analysts have noted that fast food brands prefer setting up their shops in the central districts of 1, 3 and 10, the locations with high traffic output, high population and high number of offices and shopping malls.

However, the brands have different choices on retail premises depending on their business strategies.

Subway, for example, targets tourists and office workers when opening the three shops. Therefore, the shops are situated at Kumho Link shopping mall, district 1, Pham Ngu Lao and Ho Tung Mau streets.

However, with the fourth shop opened in the campus of RMIT school, it targets to serve the families’ demand on weekend and its “aiming points” are the areas near schools and residential quarters.

As for Lotteria, the currently run sale promotion programs of the fast food chain show that it now targets young customers and teenagers. It sets up shops on the roads with high traffic output, the area with many residential quarters, or the areas near shopping malls as well.

Meanwhile, KFC targets mothers and children who most like the flavor and the image of fried chicken.

The appearance of Carls Jr’s shop recently at Pico Plaza after it made debut at Vincom Center B in district 1 and Phu My Hung new urban area showed that the US fast food chain prefers the premises near shopping malls and high end residential quarters.

Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon has quoted its sources as saying that the owner of Givral Café plans to come back to the place it once set up shop in the past, at Vincom Center A.

In the past, Givral Café leased 200 square meters of premises there at VND4.5 million, or $210 per square meter. If counting on all expenses, the café owner had to pay $48,000 a month.

Compiled by C. V