Thai retail giant opens new Tops Market in Vietnam expansion drive

Thailand’s Central Retail launched a new Tops Market outlet in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday, part of the company’s plan to pump $828 million into Vietnam over the next five years.

Central Retail had announced July 11 that it would invest the money until 2026 to expand its presence in one of the firm's "key strategic markets."

In Vietnam, the Thai retailer operates the Go supermarkets, hypermarkets and compact malls, along with the Tops Market stores, formerly known as BigC. The company re-branded seven BigC stores last year.

The store, located in the Moonlight Residences complex in Thu Duc city, is newly built. Central Retail's eighth Tops Market outlet in the country offers over 15,000 products with almost 1,500 square meters of selling space.

“We commit to do our best to help enhance Vietnamese families’ lives through the widest variety of top-quality fresh and organic products at the most affordable price,” said Central Retail Vietnam CEO Olivier Langlet.

Langlet added that the company would continuously source and import high-quality products from around the world to meet the changing needs of customers.

He had said earlier that Central Retail's new investments for the 2022-2026 period aim to make the company the number one omnichannel platform in food and property in Vietnam, boost its sales to 100 billion baht ($2.76 billion), double the firm’s omnichannel sales penetration to 15%, and expand its presence to 55 of 63 cities and provinces across the country, up from the current 40.