Fresh from inking a distribution deal with two struggling local Vietnamese retail groups Japan’s Aeon is to brand a network of 500 stories across the nation.
Last month, Aeon announced deals with Ho Chi Minh City-based Citimart and Hanoi based Fivimart under which it would distribute its home brand ranges.
Now Aeon has revealed it will work with Citimart to develop a chain of 500 convenience stores and small supermarkets branded Aeon Citimart by 2025.
Aeon has no financial stake in Citimart which has 26 stores in Ho Chi Minh City, or with Fivimart, which has 20 stores in Hanoi.
“We had been seeking cooperation that can create the difference for Citimart stores to compete with other domestic and international retailers and Aeon is one of the first names we thought of,” Lam Minh Huy, chairman of Dong Hung Co, which operates the Citimart chain, told the Saigon Times newspaper.
“The cooperation with Aeon allows Citimart to access tips, experience and management technology (of Aeon) and uses the Aeon brand next to our logo,” he said.
Citimart’s founder Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa told The Saigon Times that the two parties want to take advantage of each other’s strengths for development purposes, with no plans for cross shareholding or capital investment from Aeon.
Aeon last week opened its second shopping mall in Vietnam, in Binh Duong province, about an hour from Ho Chi Minh City, where it opened its first mall in January.
Source insideretail.asia