{"id":1312,"date":"2026-07-04T23:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/india-marketing.jp\/vietnam-news\/aeon-danang-open\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T01:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T16:20:52","slug":"aeon-danang-open","status":"publish","type":"vietnam-news","link":"https:\/\/india-marketing.jp\/en\/vietnam-news\/aeon-danang-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Aeon Mall's first store in Da Nang asks what move to make in central cities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nThis article is based on what we could verify As of August 1, 2026<\/strong> This article is based on public materials and news reports from Vietnam. Vietnam's tax system, regulations, and administrative divisions change frequently, so information here may have been updated since publication. For actual business decisions, please confirm the latest details with the relevant government authorities or local experts as primary sources.\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On July 1, 2026, AEON Mall held a soft opening of its first mall in Da Nang, central Vietnam, \"AEON Mall Da Nang Thanh Khe,\" followed by its official grand opening on July 3. The gross floor area is about 30,000 square meters, and it has 54 specialty store tenants, about half of which are opening their first store in Da Nang. Japanese-style mall consumption, which had been concentrated in the two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has now moved in earnest to a core central city. For Japanese companies considering where to open stores in Vietnam, this offers concrete material for gauging whether they can win even by dropping down a tier of city.<\/p>\n\n

Opening July 3: Vietnam's 8th Store Makes Its First Landing in the Central Region<\/h2>\n

This mall is AEON Mall's 8th store in Vietnam and its first in Da Nang, central Vietnam. It is located at 46 Dien Bien Phu Street, Thanh Khe District, Da Nang. The site area is about 14,600 square meters, the gross floor area is about 30,000 square meters, and the total gross leasable area (GLA) is about 21,000 square meters, with the commercial zone occupying floors 1 through 4. The anchor tenant is AEON's general merchandise store, \"AEON Da Nang Thanh Khe,\" which as an \"SSM\" (Super Supermarket) format combining a compact supermarket marks the fifth such store in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Employment across the facility totals about 1,700 people, of whom about 210 were hired directly by AEON. Parking is available for about 430 cars and about 1,800 motorbikes. Business hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends, open year-round. The site area, gross floor area, and leasable area figures are consistent across multiple official and media sources.<\/p>\n\n

Uniqlo, Muji, and JINS Open Their First Stores in the Central Region<\/h2>\n

What stands out is that about half of the 54 specialty stores are opening their first location in Da Nang. Among Japanese brands, Uniqlo, Muji, and JINS are opening their first stores in the central region. Household goods retailer KKV and children's-focused formats are also entering the city for the first time, alongside international brands such as TOMMY HILFIGER, CHARLES & KEITH, NIKE, and ADIDAS, and dining options including STARBUCKS and Highlands Coffee. The lineup is designed to create, all at once, a situation where \"things you couldn't buy in Da Nang are now all available here.\"<\/p>\n

This mall was not planned as a standalone commercial facility but as part of a mixed-use development that includes a four-star-class international hotel, offices, and luxury apartments. Located just five minutes by car from the international airport, it is designed to capture both tourist and local consumption. Da Nang became a centrally governed municipality with a population of more than 3 million following the 2025 administrative reorganization, coinciding with the moment the mall's target trade area was institutionally expanded.<\/p>\n\n

A \"Regional Dispersion\" Phase Beyond the Two Major Cities<\/h2>\n

AEON Mall operates more than 20 facilities across Southeast Asia as a whole, and in Vietnam too it is shifting its focus from a Hanoi\/Ho Chi Minh City-centered rollout to core regional cities. The company is simultaneously pushing forward four facilities in Da Nang, Ha Long, Thanh Hoa, and Bac Ninh<\/a> and this Da Nang opening marks the first of that plan.<\/p>\n\n\n
Item<\/th>Value<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n
Built-up area<\/td>About 30,000 sqm<\/td><\/tr>\n
Total leasable area (GLA)<\/td>About 21,000 sqm<\/td><\/tr>\n
Number of specialty stores<\/td>54 stores (about half opening in Da Nang for the first time)<\/td><\/tr>\n
Employment<\/td>About 1,700 people (about 210 directly employed by AEON)<\/td><\/tr>\n
Positioning in Vietnam<\/td>8th store, first in the central region<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Regional dispersion is not a move by AEON alone. Thailand's Central Retail has broken ground on its 46th GO! mall in Thai Nguyen Province<\/a> moving to blanket regional cities. Data on mall development and retail chain store openings together show that the where the business is won of modern retail is beginning to shift from the two major cities to mid-sized cities.<\/p>\n\n

How it is being received locally<\/h2>\n

Consumers in Da Nang have been quoted as saying \"until now, the only way to buy major brands was to fly to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City,\" and the mall is reported to have been crowded with families from opening day. Local retail figures see the very fact that a commercial facility employing 1,700 people has appeared in the city center as rewriting the city's consumption flow. At the same time, concern is spreading among existing shopping streets and small stores about the structural change of foot traffic being drawn away to the mall. The more modern retail penetrates regional areas, the more this shift of customers away from traditional street-front stores is occurring everywhere.<\/p>\n\n

What Japanese Companies Considering Opening in Da Nang Should Check First<\/h2>\n

The takeaway Japanese companies should draw from this news is that it is now possible to verify, using real data from a mall, whether Da Nang can actually deliver the customer traffic and spending per customer needed to turn a profit. The fact that Uniqlo, Muji, and JINS \u2014 three brands deeply familiar to Japanese consumers \u2014 all chose Da Nang for their first store in the central region means that, at least by their own store-opening criteria, Da Nang has cleared the bar of being \"the next tier after the two major cities.\" Companies considering entering Vietnam in dining, apparel, or household goods can use the sales performance of these three companies as an observation point.<\/p>\n

As a concrete action, we recommend rebuilding your own trade-area research around \"mall units\" rather than \"city units.\" In a city like Da Nang, where demographics have changed with its reclassification as a centrally governed municipality, old market data no longer matches reality. Opening your first store by riding alongside an anchor tenant such as AEON Mall can lower the risk of attracting customers compared with a standalone street-front store. The cheapest feasibility study is to actually visit an opened mall yourself and check, with your own eyes, the weekday and weekend customer mix, dwell time, and how many competing brands have moved in.<\/p>\n\n

Ripple Effects on the Central Vietnam Consumer Market<\/h2>\n

The arrival of a Japanese-style mall in Da Nang looks set to be a catalyst for raising the share of modern retail in the central region. Vietnam is seeing a rapid increase in convenience stores and mini-supermarkets in regional areas<\/a> and the shift of regional shopping patterns from traditional markets to modern retail is expected to accelerate in the central region as well. Once a mall becomes the \"face\" of a trade area, demand for dining, services, and logistics tends to spring up around it in a chain reaction. For consumer goods makers and chains that have put the central region on the back burner, Da Nang gives them reason to reorder the priorities of their expansion plans.<\/p>\n\n

Practical Information<\/h2>\n

AEON Mall Da Nang Thanh Khe is located at 46 Dien Bien Phu Street, Thanh Khe District, Da Nang, about 5 minutes by car from Da Nang International Airport. Business hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends, open year-round. If you visit Da Nang for an on-site inspection, it is worth also checking the operating status of the surrounding mixed-use development (hotel, offices, apartments) to better gauge the trade area's real strength. For trends in Vietnam's mall-based retail, please also refer to the related articles below.<\/p>\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

AEON Mall's first store in Da Nang is a milestone showing that Japanese-style mall consumption in Vietnam has crossed the barrier of the two major cities and reached the central region. The decision by Uniqlo, Muji, and JINS to open their first stores in the central region here backs up Da Nang's maturity as a market. As a next step, it is realistic for Japanese companies considering opening stores in central Vietnam to move in this order: (1) actually visit this mall to check the customer base and competitors, (2) rebuild trade-area analysis around mall units rather than city units, and (3) initially lower first-store risk by opening alongside an anchor tenant.<\/p>\n\n

Sources<\/h2>\n