“Hanging shops” mushrooming in Hanoi

As it is getting more and more costly to lease retail premises in Hanoi, small merchants have “invented” a new mode of shops – hanging shops.

The rice hanging shop on Quan Thanh street
Hanging shops have been mushrooming in Hanoi, where all kinds of essential goods for daily life, from food, rice to clothes, handbags, are sold. The shops have been welcomed by Hanoians, because they find it more convenient to buy goods at the hanging shops than at traditional shops or supermarkets. Meanwhile, hanging shops are really the solution for the small merchants who do not have money to lease expensive retail premises.

The shops are called “hanging shops” or “wall shops” because the goods items available there are put against the wall or hung on strands. The goods do not need much area to be displayed; therefore, the owners of the shops can display their goods everywhere. Of courses, these shops cannot be considered luxurious, and the prices of the products available there are very reasonable.

At the Hong Thang rice shop which has been well known among local residents in Ba Dinh district for the last 30 years, some bags of rice are seen placed neatly on the wall near the entrance door to the Quan Thanh ward’s people’s committee’s office. On the left hand side, one can see glass boxes put each next to others. The customers who want to buy rice, just need to pull the glass up, and the rice would flow down as much as they want.

Thuy, the hired saleswoman of the shop, said that the shop has been operating this way for the last 30 years. “We have numerous customers, because the shop is located on a very advantageous position. On the way home from their offices, customers just need to drop in the shop for several minutes to buy rice,” she said.

The famous picture shop on Ba Trieu Street is not a big and luxurious shop at all. This is also a kind of hanging shop, because all the artistic pictures, paintings and photos are being hung against the wall of the Youth Union’s Central Committee’s office.

The shop has existed for the last many years, and it is getting more and more expanded and prosperous. The owner of the shop said that he is satisfied with his business with the revenue of up to tens of millions of dong a day on Tet holiday.

In Hanoi, where the land is “as expensive as gold”, small merchants need to use every possible square meter of land to do business. Pavements, public fences, or electricity polls all can serve as the retail premises.

Nguyen Xuan Khanh, the owner of a clothes hanging shop on Nguyen Trai Road in Hanoi said that in order to earn their living, a lot of people have to open “pavement shops”. Of course, the shops are not applauded by the local authorities. However, these shops still have been existing for many years, because every one needs money live.

The hanging shops not only sell essential goods, but also provide different types of services. For the last several years, Thai Thinh has been well known as the “barber street”, because there are a lot of hanging barber shops. Hoang Ngoc Hanh, 40, said that he likes having hair cut at the barber’s, because here at the pavement barber shops, he can sit in the open air and enjoy the fresh atmosphere, while the service fees are reasonable.

Nguyen Quang Dung, the owner of one of the barber shops on Thai Thinh street, said that he does not have to make heavy investment in the small shop and does not have to pay premises fee, but he has to work hard to earn his living.

“On rainy days, I have to hang canvas. On sunny day, my shop moves around the tree to avoid the sun under the leaf canopy,” he said.

“I need to earn at least 200,000 dong a day to live and continue working,” he added.

Dung said that though he does not have to pay any official fees for using the pavement, but he regularly has to pay different kinds of “underground fees”. He has to give gifts to officials on Tet days or holidays, pay security and cleaning fees, gives donations in the campaigns organized by the local authorities.

Tags: Vietnam retail, vietnam retail industry, Vietnam retail market, Vietnam super markets