The owner of Hung Vuong Plaza in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City will open another shopping mall at the site after taking back the space from Parkson Vietnam.

The plaza was previously known as Parkson Hung Vuong Plaza, which was closed down last year.

Tran Le Nguyen, CEO of Kido Group, a major local confectionery producer, said that Kido had poured hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong to increase its ownership in the Hung Vuong building.

The firm will open the second Van Hanh Mall at the space in August following the successful operation of the first in District 10.

The group’s decision was seen as the latest move in the local retail market after Parkson Vietnam announced its application for voluntary bankruptcy in late April.

Parkson Hung Vuong Plaza was operated by Parkson Vietnam from 2007.

“We saw a sluggish business picture at Parkson Hung Vuong Plaza a year ago, thereby seeking to take back the space and extend rental payment deadlines," said Nguyen.

“Kido restarted taking over the Hung Vuong building and restructured its ownership from June 2022.

"Kido will put into operation the plaza in August this year.”

Kido has raised its holding in the plaza to 76.5 percent from 44 percent. The firm saw much potential for development in the local market that is facing multiple challenges.

Nguyen said that Parkson’s failure gave a lesson to domestic retailers as a modern shopping center is not only a place for shopping, but it should also serve the demands of entertainment and amusement, while offering certain items at reasonable prices.

As such, the new Hung Vuong Plaza is set to feature 16 percent of its space for entertainment, 31 percent for food, and 53 percent for goods and services.

The occupancy rate of the plaza has reached 80 percent, and is expected to stand at more than 90 percent on the opening day. Over 100 local and international brands will operate in the shopping mall.

Shopping mall business in Ho Chi Minh City has been affected by changes in customers’ shopping habits and the popularity of online shopping platforms.

In the first four months of 2023, Van Hanh Mall served some one million shoppers, double the 2021 figure.

The mall targets over VND400 billion (US$17.1 million) in revenue this year, according to a report recently released by Kido.

Meanwhile, Hung Vuong Plaza is projected to make VND250 billion ($10.7 million) in revenue this year, and be fully occupied.

Parkson Retail Asia Ltd (PRA) said in late April that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Parkson Vietnam Co. Ltd had filed a court application in Ho Chi Minh City for the commencement of voluntary bankruptcy proceedings.

The move was aimed at ending the mall chain’s 18 years of operation in Vietnam as it is not commercially feasible to continue its business in the country, said Singapore-listed PRA, a 67.96-percent-owned subsidiary of Parkson Holdings Bhd.

Parkson Vietnam’s pre-tax loss stood at SGD2.3 million ($1.72 million) last year against a pre-tax profit of SGD13.7 million ($10.25 million) in 2021 as its revenue plunged from SGD10.1 million ($7.55 million) to SGD2.4 million ($1.8 million) in the same period, according to an announcement released by Parkson Retail Asia Limited in April.

In Vietnam, there is currently only one Parkson store, which covers 18,000 square meters in downtown Ho Chi Minh City.

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