Parkson shutters outlet in expat-populated area of HCM City
An outlet of Malaysian department store operator Parkson, situated in a luxurious urban area of Ho Chi Minh City, has closed due to poor performance, five years after it opened.
Thuy Duong Co. Ltd., the operator of Parkson Paragon in District 7, said the store had been shut down and relocated, adding that all of its partners had been notified of the move two months in advance.
The company said the closing and relocation will not affect the business of other Parkson outlets in Vietnam. Membership cards signed up at Parkson Paragon remain valid within the store chain, it added.
Situated on Nguyen Luong Bang Street in the Phu My Hung urban area, the Parkson Paragon building was previously named Saigon Paragon, a trade center managed by Paragon Corporation, and owned by two Vietnamese moguls.
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In April 2011, Malaysia’s Parkson took over the management of the facility under a 19-year contract, and renamed it Parkson Paragon, hoping to attract wealthy shoppers in the expat-populated area.
The opening of the outlet in District 7 was at the time seen as a big step by the Malaysian retailer in exploring the Vietnamese market.
In January 2015, Parkson Vietnam also shut down its store at the 72-story Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower in Hanoi, after sales slipped behind targets.
Parkson, headquartered in the Malaysian state of Selangor, boasted a network of 123 stores as of January 31, 2015, according to its website. Parkson has 41 stores in Malaysia and is also present in big cities in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
Following the closure of Parkson Paragon, the chain has eight remaining stores in Vietnam, including five in Ho Chi Minh City, and one each in the northern city of Haiphong, Hanoi and the central city of Danang.
