Business

Japanese retailer to enter Vietnam

By Phuong Anh February 22, 2019 | 11:24 AM GMT+7

Japan’s household goods and apparel chain Muji plans to establish a Vietnam branch in August 2019 and open its first store in Ho Chi Minh City next spring.

Japan’s Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd., has announced that it will establish a subsidiary, MUJI Vietnam Limited Liability Company, in August this year for further business development.

Muji Vietnam will be a local subsidiary and 100 per cent owned by Ryohin Keikaku. Its headquarter will be based in Ho Chi Minh City where its first store is planned to be opened in spring 2020.

Among all the fast-developing ASEAN countries, Vietnam has the third largest population and is undergoing rapid economic development with estimated real GDP growth of 7.1 per cent in 2018.

That makes Vietnam become one of the major markets in ASEAN, the reason why Ryohin Keikaku chose Vietnam for expansion.

“We expect that our experience and know-how in the global market would help in running the stores that serves everyday living and increases Muji fans in the area,” said the business.

Established in 1980, Ryohin Keikaku started as a private label of the Seiyu Japanese supermarket chain. From only 40 products in the 1980s, it now has more than 7,000 different household items sold as Muji products. Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as “no-brand quality goods”.