Central Group, Thailand’s leading retailer, is expanding its presence in Vietnam with the launch in March of “Robins” department store aimed at becoming the preferred retail outlet for Vietnamese shoppers.
According to the group's Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO, Tos Chirativat, the successful launch of SuperSports, Crocs and New Balance stores in Vietnam through a distribution network of Central Group’s subsidiaries and brand licensing to Vietnamese partners has highlighted the spending power of the country’s 90 million residents, over 60% of which belong to a workforce with high purchasing power. This makes Vietnam a target market with high potential for growth and an excellent destination for investors in the retail sector. Vietnam’s capital city and surrounding areas are showing signs of healthy and consistent growth, while average incomes appear to be on the rise as well. Additionally, the influx of foreign investors into Vietnam, aimed at supporting market expansion in Southeast Asia, is driving the strong growth of the Vietnamese economy, leading to a positive spending pattern among target consumers over the past 1-2 years.
President of Robinson Department Store Public Company Ltd, Alan Thomson, who is overseeing department store operation in Vietnam, said that the group’s first overseas department store under the “Robins” brand will soon be occupying 10,000 square meters of retail space on the B1 level of Royal City, a modern mega mall project with over 200,000sq.m. and over 5,000 residential units in Hanoi.“Robins” boasts one of the very best locations available in Hanoi,” Thomson said. “The mall promises to serve up a well-rounded range of products for Vietnamese customers of any lifestyle – especially among the younger generation. After the first store in Hanoi Robins plan to launch the second store in Ho Chi Minh City by end of 2014. We expect that our stores will create employment opportunities for over 1,000 applicants in these 2 cities.”