I made the visit to the new Lotte Mart in Saigon near Phu My Hung. It was a long trip there from the Phu Nhuan District. All I got to say is that I was a bit disappointed about it. All the hoopla was just that. Big C, near my house, was just as good as the new Lotte Mart in my opinion. For electronics, just go to Nguyen Kiem.
My friends and I arrived to Lotte Mart at about 7 PM. The place was packed at the time. I was expecting a nice, clean quiet department store. Lotte Mart, on the outside, had reminded me of Target in some ways. All expectations changed when we entered Lotte Mart.
Instead of being quiet, it was quiet loud inside reminding me of the Vietnamese barbecue restaurants I visit once in a while. That really surprised me. The first floor reminded me of the first floor in all big Vietnamese superstores cluttered full of cosmetic kiosks. The second floor was better, we spent most of our time there.
Now the thing that surprised the most was how dirty everything seemed. All the electronics had a layer of dust on them. My eyes even started to water a bit, dust was everywhere. It did not seem if the Lotte Mart staff cared about the cleaniness of the place. I felt that the entire building was a bit unfriendly.
For me, it was not really worth the visit but I guess I might as well get used to Lotte Marts. They will spring up all across Vietnam. I hope their service improves before Walmart makes it’s entry into the market.
Pictures below:
(Second floor)
(Lotteria near the grocery store)
(First floor cosmetic kiosks)
(Near the entrance)
(Second floor electronics – Very dusty here)
i’m not impressed either. it was a mad house in there and the lines were terrible. in certain areas within the main section, you actually have to have the items written up and paid for before you enter other sections– and i’m not talking about external vendors selling knick knacks outside of the grocery section like you have in co-op mart.
they do have potential. for example, you can get some tools you can’t easily find in other stores and the overall bed linens are better quality. but much more expensive too.
hopefully, imported stuff will come in that you can’t find elsewhere. until then, i’m avoiding that place like the plague.
I am not sure if you need to worry about WalMart, Kevin. I saw Ted Kopple’s PBS show on modern China, and it’s new economy. The Wal-Mart’s they discussed were NOT discount stores. They were HIGH dollar AMERICAN made products. Kinda funny really: In the U.S. they sell stuff they import from China, and in China they sell stuff they import from the U.S.
If they continue like that, they will go after the new upper class.