In October 2018, the giant also acquired convenience store chain Fivimart, which entered the market in 1997.
According to a representative from Vingroup's retail arm VinCommerce, Shop & Go, the Singaporean-owned convenience store chain, has recently offered to be taken over by the conglomerate, Zing reports. The two corporations struck a deal to let Vingroup acquire Shop & Go for US$1.
Shop & Go's current 87 outlets will be rebranded as Vinmart+ and upgraded with new staff, infrastructures and goods. The merger and acquisition process is expected to be finalized by the end of April. At the moment, Shop & Go's social media presence has been wiped out and physical stores are in the transition process.
Shop & Go first entered the Vietnam market in 2006 with its first store located in Saigon. The chain has since expanded to 70 stores in Saigon and 17 stores in Hanoi. According to Shop & Go's financial report, the chain lost VND205 billion (US$8.81 million) by the end of 2016 with only VND1.27 billion (US$54,744) in authorized capital. In October 2018, the chain's authorized capital increased to VND207.27 billion (US$9 million).
"The competition is more intense than we imagined; that is why we’ve decided to leave. We have sold our stores to Vingroup so it can continue to develop them," a Shop & Go representative told VnExpress.
