Hundreds of people in Hanoi queued up for the opening of the Uniqlo store on Friday morning when the Japanese fashion retailer launched its first outlet in the capital.
People in Hanoi queue up for the opening of the Uniqlo store on March 6
This first Uniqlo Hanoi store is located at Vincom Centre Pham Ngoc Thach in Dong Da District and is the fourth biggest in Southeast Asia with a total area of 2,500 square metres.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Uniqlo has committed to ensuring a safe shopping environment for customers, providing masks and hand wash to shoppers.
Speaking at a press meeting about the store opening, CEO of Uniqlo Vietnam Osamu Ikezoe revealed that they expected to open three stores in Hanoi this year and increase the number in the next three to five years. The brand would also boost production in Vietnam.
"The COVID-19 epidemic would not affect our plan for this store opening," he said. "But it would affect our production activities in March and April. But we'll try to boost the production to ensure enough supply to the market."
Osamu Ikezoe also shared that they saw Vietnam a potential market with a young population and GDP growth of 7%.
Besides the opening of the first store in Hanoi, Uniqlo also signed an MoU with the local Department of Industry and Trade, committing their long-term business investment in Vietnam. The signing ceremony was attended by Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung and Japanese ambassador to Vietnam, Kunio Umeda.
The brand opened its first outlet in Vietnam last December in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1.
