7-Eleven brand to enter Vietnam

HANOI The first 7-Eleven convenience store in Vietnam should open in February 2018.

Local media reported, Friday, the 7-Eleven convenience store brand will make its debut next year in Vietnam once new rules on small business enterprises come into play.

Local media also claimed the move was influenced by the boom in the retail economy with consumer spending  up as the standard of living improves.

In May this year, the government announced a plan to relax requirements for opening small shops with floor space of 500 square metres or less. The rule could be effective as early as this December.

Last year, Japan’s Seven & I Holdings said it would open the first 7-Eleven store in Vietnam in 2017. The firm’s US-based subsidiary, 7-Eleven Inc, has secured an agreement with IFB Holdings, which currently runs the Pizza Hut store chain and other junk food outlets in Vietnam, to open the first 7-Eleven in the market, the report said.

The first 7-Eleven should open in Ho Chi Minh City and Seven & I Holdings plans to have 100 stores within three years and 1,000 over a decade, it added.

FamilyMart and Ministop are Japan’s convenience store brands already operating in Vietnam.

Tourism officials believe having 7-Eleven stores will raise the country’s profile with international visitors.

For January to July, this year, the country welcomed 5,552,635 international tourists up 24.0% over the same period last year.

Key tourism markets for the country are China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States.