Standard Chartered-funded firm closes tiNiWorld playgrounds at all Vincom mall outlets

New Kids Service Trading Corporation, or N Kid Group, has closed tiNiWorld and tiNiStore locations at Vincom Mall outlets since February 5, citing “sustained challenging business performances within the network.”

The remaining locations across the country will function as usual, the operator said on its Facebook page.

It said the VuiVuiLand centers in the Vincom Mall system were not related to the tiNiWorld/tiNiStore brand and do not belong to the N Kid Group.

“tiNi confirms there is no share ownership and franchising agreement between the two parties.”

Before the latest announcement, N Kid Group had more than 40 tiNiWorld locations and 35 tiNiStore shops and some 2,000 tiNiToy outlets across the country, including 12 playgrounds in Vincom malls.

Its remaining indoor playgrounds and tiNiStore outlets are located at other malls and supermarkets like Aeon Mall, Thiso Mall, Giga Mall, and Lotte in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Vinh town (Nghe An province), Binh Duong and Can Tho.

In 2020, it had 24 tiNiWorld playgrounds at Vincom malls, and had reduced the number to 12 before February 2024.

N Kid Group first launched the tiNiWorld-branded education-entertainment playground for toddlers and teenagers at the Eden Mall in District 1, HCMC in 2009 and expanded to Hanoi a year later.

It received $40 million in funding from Standard Chartered Bank in 2016 to expand its retail store and recreation locations. In 2019, the firm received $36.2 million from Singapore’s Crescent Point.