The stores will appear on Ho Chi Minh’s increasingly fashionable Dong Khoi Street, supported by an instore event and PR. No advertising has appeared to date, except for a large building wrap at the Sheraton Saigon Tower, which read ‘Gucci: opening soon’.
The Gucci store is slightly bigger than Louis Vuitton’s and boasts a broader product offering. Louis Vuitton Ho Chi Minh City, which faces the city’s Opera House, is the brand’s second outlet in Vietnam. The French goods brand launched in Hanoi in 1997.
“The fast-growing Vietnamese economy ensures the readiness of the market,” said Thierry de Longevialle, general manager, Louis Vuitton Thailand, Vietnam. “We are now bringing in new product categories such as women’s shoes and sunglasses to serve increasing demand.”
Ho Chi Minh City’s population has doubled in a decade, to almost eight million, while per capita income has also risen. The proportion of people living on ‘a dollar a day’ has fallen from 80 per cent in 1995 to 20 per cent this year. High-end designer labels are betting on consumer spending expected to reach as high as 860 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$54 billion) by 2010, according to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.
Spend on healthcare, housing, transport, education and entertainment is forecast to increase, with luxury goods spending to rise by five per cent. Vietnam’s retail industry is expected to account for roughly 80 per cent of consumer spending between 2006 and 2010 — and average spend per person will grow by 11 per cent each year. Meanwhile, consumer spending is predicted to remain at around 70 per cent of GDP by 2020 — higher than the 56 per cent in Singapore, 58 per cent in Malaysia and 68 per cent in Thailand.
Sabyasachi Mishra, managing director of Lowe Vietnam, said: “The arrival of Gucci and Louis Vuitton is a symbolic moment for Vietnam. Ten years ago, if a family had brought a chicken at home for dinner, they would have shuttered the windows for fear the neighbours would see it. The opportunity for and attitudes towards consumerism have changed beyond belief.”
