Retail News CRM

Tag: SC VivoCity

  • Another Vietnam asset for Mapletree Investments

    Another Vietnam asset for Mapletree Investments

    Singaporean real-estate investment firm Mapletree Investments has acquired Kumho Asiana Plaza Saigon, a mixed-use complex in Ho Chi Minh City’s CBD, taking its total assets under management in Vietnam to more than US$1 billion.

    As well as a supermarket, the plaza has mainly restaurants and is anchored by Hard Rock Cafe and Starbucks. It also has Grade A offices, serviced apartments and a hotel managed by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). It is Mapletree’s largest acquisition in Vietnam involving a completed income-producing property.

    Korean media outlets say that South Korea’s second-largest flag carrier, Asiana Airlines, and Kumho Industrial, the two joint-venture partners of the complex, have sold off their interest for US$215 million in a bid to improve their financial health.

    “Kumho Asiana Plaza is a rare asset given its attributes such as size, strong occupancy and location,” says Mapletree CEO Hiew Yoon Khong.

    He says the group will continue to seek similar investment opportunities in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

    Mapletree entered Vietnam in 2005, and most of its projects are developed within central business districts as well as four logistics parks across the country.

    One of its main current developments is Saigon South Place, a mixed-use project in Ho Chi Minh City that will comprise Grade A office towers, serviced apartment and residential buildings, as well as the current shopping centre SC VivoCity, which Mapletree jointly developed with Vietnam retailer Saigon Co.op.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • SC VivoCity Vietnam ‘trading well’

    SC VivoCity Vietnam ‘trading well’

    Singapore’s Mapletree has revealed how its SC VivoCity joint venture in Ho Chi Minh City is performing.

    The shopping centre, built in the heart of District 7, a area popular with expats from Korea and Singapore especially, opened in April 2015.

    In its recent annual results presentation, Mapletree said almost 90 per cent of SC VivoCity’s 440,000 sqft retail trading space was leased by March 31 this year. Cornerstone tenants include Vietnam’s first Hamleys toy store.

    Mapletree said its first shopping mall in Vietnam “has been enjoying strong footfalls since it first welcomed visitors”.

    SC VivoCity is the first phase of Saigon South Place, a 4.4-ha integrated mixed-use development project that Mapletree is developing in District 7. When completed, Saigon South Place will comprise retail, office, serviced apartments and residential space.

    Construction of the adjoining office complex has started and is expected to be completed by end 2016, while work on the serviced apartments and residential block will commence soon and both buildings are scheduled for completion by end 2017, Mapletree said.

    SC VivoCity is a joint venture between local company Saigon Co Op Investment Co, a supermarket operator, and Mapletree, bearing the same brand as the award winning VivoCity centre on Singapore’s waterfront.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Singapore’s Wilmar invests $13mn to leverage Vietnam’s leading sauce brand

    Singapore’s Wilmar invests $13mn to leverage Vietnam’s leading sauce brand

    Wilmar International has teamed up with leading local retailer Saigon Co-op to form a joint venture for a multimillion-dollar sauce making plant in Vietnam, the Singaporean agribusiness group announced Tuesday.

    Wilmar International holds a 51 percent stake, worth around US$13 million, in the joint venture that will establish the Nam Duong International Foodstuff Corporation to overtake a project to build the $25.6 million sauce factory in Ho Chi Minh City.

    The new facility, to be located in the outlying district of Nha Be, will take over the current operations of an existing Saigon Co-op factory to manufacture sauces and condiments sold under the Nam Duong brand, according to Wilmar.

    The plant’s products will serve both domestic and export markets.

    Established in 1951, Nam Duong is amongst the leading brands for sauces and condiments in Vietnam, which include soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato sauce.

    These products are also currently being sold in export markets such as the U.S., Canada and Europe and are favored by overseas and Vietnamese consumers.

    Nam Duong International Foodstuff Corporation will leverage Saigon Co-op’s strength in distribution and Wilmar’s experience in manufacturing operations as well as its research and development in food technology and also tap the agribusiness group’s global network for export sales, according to the Singaporean firm.

    “The combination of Saigon Co-op and Wilmar Group’s strengths in the Nam Duong International Foodstuff Corporation joint venture will be a milestone in the Vietnamese consumer market,” Saigon Co-op general director  Nguyen Thanh Nhan said.

    Saigon Co-op boasts the most extensive modern retailing network in Vietnam and has intimate knowledge of Vietnamese consumers’ taste and preferences, whereas Wilmar is experienced in the manufacture and distribution of food products globally, Nhan elaborated.

    The cooperation is also expected to “increase the reach of the Nam Duong brand and grow their sauces and condiments business significantly,” according to Ray Chew, country head of Wilmar’s business operations in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

    Saigon Co-op is well known for its wide and varied distribution channels, including the Co.op Mart supermarket chain, Co.op Food convenience stores, Co.opXtra hypermarkets, Ben Thanh Store, the Co.op Store chain, and the SC VivoCity complex.

    In 2015, Saigon Co-op was conferred Vietnam’s Leading Retailer Award and was listed among the “Top 200 leading retailers in the Asia Pacific” by Retail Asia Publishing and market research group Euromonitor.

    Wilmar International, founded in 1991 and currently Asia’s leading agribusiness group, is ranked among the largest listed companies by market capitalization on the Singapore Exchange.

    Its business activities include palm oil cultivation, oilseed crushing, edible oils refinement, sugar milling and refining, specialty fats, oleochemical, biodiesel and fertilizer manufacturing, and grain processing.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Caffe Bene Vietnam starts franchising

    Caffe Bene Vietnam starts franchising

    Korean coffee chain Caffe Bene has opened its first franchised store in Vietnam.

    Caffe Bene Vietnam’s third store – its first franchised outlet – is located in the recently opened SSC VivoCity shopping centre in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7, a popular expat residential area.

    While coffee is at its core, Caffe Bene has attracted a large customer base of Vietnamese due to its shaved ice desserts, bagels and ice cream.

    The first Caffe Bene store opened in Ho Chi Minh City last year in a prime two-storey corner site on the city’s main shopping street Dung Khoi, in premises vacated by apparel chain Esprit. Queues formed from day one.

    Now that it has refined its offer and gained market experience through its two company-owned stores, the company is launching its franchise program. It plans to have 50 stores trading in Vietnam by the end of next year.

    Caffe Bene Korea is focusing on international expansion after reaching saturation point in its own market with a network of 810 stores. It has more than 500 stores in China and two in the US. It will also take its brand to the Middle East after signing a franchise agreement with Saudi Arabia-based Keden Group.