Tokyo (VNA) – Japanese retail giant AEON aims to more than triple its Vietnam mall footprint to 30 locations by fiscal 2030, up from nine now in operation, the AEON Mall President and CEO laid out the expansion in an interview recently granted to Nikkei.
Vietnam is AEON’s top priority market, set to absorb 60% of the group’s total ASEAN investment under its medium-term plan running through March 2031.
The group’s Vietnamese operations, spanning malls and general merchandise stores, are growing revenue roughly 25% annually. AEON expects Vietnam sales to top 300 billion JPY (1.84 billion USD) by fiscal 2030.
AEON Mall Da Nang Thanh Khe, the company’s newest property, opened on July 3. CEO Ohno said foot traffic has run remarkably higher than expected since launch.
The Da Nang mall sits within a mixed-use development by Vietnam’s TTC Group, marking AEON’s first launch of that model in the country. The format cuts costs compared with building a standalone mall independently.
Ohno said TTC has proposed additional locations beyond Da Nang, and AEON is open to working with partners other than TTC as well.
To hit the 30-mall target, AEON plans to tailor each project’s size and design to local community identity and demand. It is also preparing for more mixed-use mall developments similar to the Da Nang project, he added.
The expansion strategy includes mid-sized malls that won’t carry the AEON Mall brand. The group has already opened one such facility in Vietnam.
In fiscal year 2026, the group plans to open malls in Thanh Hoa and Ha Long cities and has secured approval for a second Da Nang location.
Opportunities in provincial cities remain more constrained than in Hanoi by population size and purchasing power, yet competition is intensifying as Thailand’s Central Group and other retailers accelerate their Vietnam rollout.
Against that backdrop, moving early to lock in prime sites is critical, the AEON Mall CEO stressed./.
