After COVID-19, the business premises on the golden land are vacant

Discounts are still hard to find tenants

On March 17, a survey by PV Tien Phong showed that on the road known as the “golden land” Nguyen Hue pedestrian street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) there were many empty spaces with signs for rent. We found the owner of an abandoned townhouse on Nguyen Hue Street, with an area of ​​​​4×16 m including 1 ground 2 floors, which is being offered for rent at 11,000 USD/month.

Mr. Le Minh – the owner said, before the epidemic, this house was rented for an amount of 14,000-15,000 USD/month, but then the business stalled so it had to close. “Now the price has dropped deeply, but no matter how much I search, there are no customers. It is not known when business will return to normal as before the COVID-19 epidemic,” Minh said.

A few steps away, an area of ​​​​4x30m is also being offered for rent at 12,000 USD/month. According to this landlord, a company specializing in studying abroad rented before, but because of the epidemic, the premises were paid. The house has been vacant for more than 1 year, almost no customers ask even though Nguyen Hue is an expensive route for business.

Running along Ly Tu Trong Street (District 1, near Ben Thanh Market) many front houses have a width of 4m, a length of 20m, a ground floor, 2-3 floors construction structure also has a vacant period of the whole year. . Rent is currently offered from 6,000-7,000 USD/month but no one has inquired. Similarly, many streets of District 1 such as Le Thanh Ton, Nguyen Du, Hai Ba Trung … many business locations here are also in a sluggish situation.

Nguyen Trai Fashion Street in District 5 was once very busy, but after a few translations, there were many tables for rent. Visited an area with a width of 6m, was for rent for 140 million VND/month, when the security guard of the clothing store next door said that it had been 2 years since he had sold anything here.

Mr. Sinh, who is managing this premises, said that before, customers opened a milk tea shop to rent for 170 million VND/month, but after the outbreak, customers were increasingly absent.

Finally, the store could not stand it, so it closed and returned the premises. Currently, the price is only 140 million VND/month for the first 6 months for tenants who sign a long-term contract but still have no customers to close.

On Bui Vien West Street, PV contacted the phone number posted at the house with the location at the intersection, the owner said that the two-storey house with an area of ​​​​160m2 of floor space is rented for 120 million VND. /month. Although he has posted a rental sign for the past 1 year, he still has not found a tenant.

The situation of business shops is sluggish, many old owners cannot bear long-term losses, so closings continue to take place, especially in industries such as spas, restaurants, and so on. Ms. Bich Ngoc, owner of nearly a dozen establishments The spa business in the center of Ho Chi Minh City said that the store’s revenue mainly comes from Japanese, Korean, and Chinese tourists… but now there are no tourists, making her business difficult. towel. Not to mention, domestic customers are hesitant because partly afraid of the epidemic, partly cutting spending.

“I’m very happy every month when I collect enough money to pay the house rent, I can work every month to count that month. When I can’t stand it anymore, I have to pay the house,” Ngoc said.

Viet Hung, the owner of a food business on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street (District 1), said that the COVID-19 epidemic not only caused the business situation to stagnate but also changed the consumption habits of people. people. Instead of shopping in the traditional way, many people choose to buy goods on e-commerce sites.

Currently, Mr. Hung only keeps one store to display products, other branches have refunded to cut costs. At the same time, the store changed its business model online, instead of using money to pay for the premises, it hired more shippers and ran ads on social networking sites.

Disgraceful shophouse

Shophouse is a type of real estate that can both live in, do business or rent space, so it has been popular with investors in the past time. However, the COVID-19 epidemic has severely affected the shophouse business. Many shophouses have been advertised for rent for many months but have to be left vacant, and the ones that already have tenants are also holding out. At an apartment building on Nguyen Huu Tho Street (District 7), the shophouse row in the apartment lobby has only a few coffee brands and convenience stores that rent business space, the rest are empty of tenants. Inside the glass doors of the shophouses, the owners have signs for long-term rental.

Due to consumption habits

Hoang Kim Hoai, General Director of Phuc Dien Land, said that currently, the rental space in District 1 is still vacant due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many stores are gradually getting used to the online business, no longer prioritizing getting a beautiful location at all costs.

Moreover, tenants of the downtown area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City are planning to move to a district outside the city center to avoid costs eroding profits.

An assessment from Savills Vietnam also stated that, due to the influence of e-commerce, businesses are focusing more on online channels and reducing the size of physical stores. Leading this trend are businesses in the food industry such as Starbucks, The Coffee House, Phuc Long, etc., which have closed a series of stores.

Vo Thi Khanh Trang, deputy director of research department at Savills HCMC, said that in the short term, the townhouse rental market may continue to face paying or reducing rental space and difficulties in finding customers. new hire. The host will no longer have the upper hand.

Tenants will take advantage with more options to keep up with changing consumer behavior trends. That is opening a store in a mall or expanding marketing and selling online.

Many premises have a prime location in the center of Ho Chi Minh City but no one rents it

However, Ms. Hoang Nguyet Minh, Director of Commercial Leasing Savills Hanoi, said that e-commerce platforms will not be able to completely replace street stores, but brands will reduce the need for business expansion. business.

It is expected that the demand for leasing retail space in the period from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022 will only focus on the mid- and high-end segments, with the group of restaurant and catering premises; demo shops promote products and provide cosmetic product trial experiences to customers; foreign fashion stores; premises for entertainment and products for mother and baby.

Ms. Minh suggested that landlords may have to adjust their monthly payment method, the rent can be reduced by 20-30% in the first year and offset the price in the following years of the lease to reduce financial pressure. key for business units in the opening phase. Other incentives in terms of parking, advertising signs are also important factors.

Within the next 1 year, the retail market is expected to regain its attractiveness thanks to a large number of foreign brands for all retail segments, from fashion, cosmetics, home appliances to restaurants. Vietnam market.

According to Duy Quang