VIETNAM. South Korean travel retail giant Lotte Duty Free is to open a 1,598sq m duty free store at the upscale Trang Tien Plaza in the centre of Hanoi next December. Lotte Duty Free signed a contract with renowned Vietnamese retailer IPPG, which operates Trang Tien Plaza, in the capital yesterday.
The contract was struck to “preemptively prepare” for a recovery in travel demand after the COVID-19 pandemic eases, Lotte Duty Free said.
IPPG, founded in 1985, is the pioneer of Vietnam’s luxury and travel retail sectors. It claims a 70% share of the Vietnamese luxury market. Subsidiary IPP Travel Retail operates a range of stores, food & beverage outlets and advertising services at Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, Da Nang and Phu Quoc airports as well as land border duty free shops.
The store will be opened on the sixth floor of Trang Tien Plaza after a year’s preparation. Trang Tien Plaza is the oldest luxury shopping mall in Hanoi, boasting over 110 luxury boutiques and global fashion brands.
It is located near Hoàn Kiếm Lake, a freshwater lake in the historical heart of the city which surrounds the famous Ngoc Son Temple, a pagoda that sits on a small island in the centre. The lake is one of Hanoi’s most popular tourist destinations and will help draw big crowds to the new store, Lotte Duty Free said.
The signing ceremony in Hanoi was attended by company executives and VIPs, including Kim Eui Joong, Commercial Counsellor of Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Vietnam; Park Suk Won, Head of Lotte Duty Free’s Vietnamese business; Park Chang Young, Head of Lotte Duty Free Global Business HQ; Nguyen Manh Quyen, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee; and Johnathan Hanh Nguyen, Chairman of IPP Group.
The Lotte Duty Free Hanoi downtown store will feature a differentiated offer and environment allowing customers to experience a variety of experiences by combining Vietnamese cultural characteristics and Korean Wave (Hallyu) content.
The interior will feature rattan cane materials to evoke the atmosphere of Vietnam, while local destination merchandise and coffee shops will add to the sense of place. In addition, a K-pop zone will be created so that customers can experience Hallyu culture.
A high-quality product offer will be anchored by leading international cosmetics and perfume names, as well as domestic beauty brands that are gaining considerable popularity abroad.
“We expect that overseas travel demand will gradually recover from the second half of next year,” said Park Chang-young, head of Lotte Duty Free’s Global Business Division.
Lotte Duty Free currently operates 12 stores in six countries. In Vietnam, it has stores at Da Nang International Airport (opened May 2017), Cam Ranh International Airport (June 2018) and Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport (July 2019). It also plans to open a downtown store in Da Nang, a well-advanced project, once the crisis is over.
