The most read Vietnamese newspaper
Edition: International | Vietnamese
© Copyright 1997 VnExpress.net. All rights reserved.
These days "for lease" signs adorn most stalls in the mall, while shop vendors who remain open spend most of their time on their smartphones without customers to attract attention while walking by.
Nguyen Thi Thu, a garment vendor, said that the mall had seen less and less customers since the Covid-19 pandemic. In her two decades vending there Thu has never seen the mall this empty, she said.
"Many of us vendors, including myself, only open once every two or three days. Revenues have plunged 80-90% from normal times."
Le Dung, a footwear and clothes vendor, said his sales range from VND100,000 to VND300,000 ($4-12) a day, not even enough to pay his living expenses and far from the VND6 million needed to cover rent and taxes on the shop.
Fresh food vendors have been able to retain more customers than other sellers but still the number of buyers has also dropped 50% since before the pandemic, they estimated.
A vendor used to employ 6 workers now only has two and they spend most of their time on the clock doing nothing.
 |
|
Shops are closed at Cai Khe Mall in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho. Photo by VnExpress/An Binh |
The Cai Khe Mall is divided in two three zones, two of them owned by the government and one by a private company.
Mekong Investment, which manages one zone, said that 60% of vendors have left their stalls due to low revenues.
Duong Thi Trang Nhung, the head manager of the government-owned zones, said that economic challenges, tightened spending and booming e-commerce are the reasons why few customers have been shopping at the mall
Although Cai Khe is a built like a mall, it operates similarly to a traditional wet market and most of its vendors are middle-age people who remain unfamiliar with new technology.
Market managers have been encouraging stall vendors to sell online and create flexible delivery schemes.
