Aeon opens third compact store in Vietnam, plans extra two this year

Japanese retail giant Aeon opened a store in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday under the new retail pattern “super supermarket” (SSM), the third of its kind in Vietnam to date.

Spanning 5,000 square meters, Aeon Nguyen Van Linh is located at the Crescent Mall shopping center in District 7. It has a 2,000-square-meter supermarket and a 1,200-square-meter food court.

The new outlet is part of Aeon’s pattern diversification strategy, that started being rolled out two years ago. Aeon The Nine, its first SSM in Vietnam, opened in Hanoi in 2022. A year later, a similar outlet debuted in the southern province of Binh Duong.

Underscoring general retail as one of the three business pillars of the Japanese retailer in Vietnam, director general of Aeon Vietnam Furusawa Yasuyuki revealed the company’s intention to open an additional two SSMs this year.

Furthermore, Aeon Vietnam will inaugurate more shopping malls in 2024, including one in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, slated for opening later this year.

As of last May, Aeon had invested nearly $1.2 billion in Vietnam. At present, Aeon operates six Aeon Mall outlets in the country, two each in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and one each in Binh Duong province and the northern city of Hai Phong. It is expected to develop an additional 20 shopping malls in Vietnam.

In late 2023, at the Vietnam-Japan economic forum in Tokyo, the local governments of Bac Giang province and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho sealed agreements with Aeon Vietnam for the development of two $250-million Aeon Mall facilities.