Preparations under way for Mr. DIY Vietnam

Preparations are under way for the opening of home improvement retailer Mr. DIY in Vietnam, with its latest market now featured on the landing page of the group’s website as the eleventh country it has penetrated.

The company has yet to open its first brick-and-mortar store in the country – one of only three in Southeast Asia that the Malaysian retailing powerhouse had not yet forayed into, until now – but it has already set up its online presence. Apart from its official website, Mr. DIY Vietnam, which can be accessed via the Mr. DIY group’s landing page, it now also has a digital presence on social networks including Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram.

Information available on the website states that Mr. DIY Vietnam will be selling 10 000 products across ten categories, namely: household, hardware, electrical, furnishing, stationery and sports, car accessories, toys, computers and mobile phone accessories, gifts, jewellery and cosmetics.

The company has also put out vacancy notices to prepare for the opening of its initial stores. The job postings indicate that the first Mr. DIY Vietnam outlets will be in Tan Phu, Tan Binh, and District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest city and its commercial centre, as well as in the city of Ba Ria in the southeast region of Vietnam.

The move to open in Vietnam signals Mr. DIY’s return to its roots after establishing itself on European shores. After expanding to Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, India and Cambodia, the Malaysian home improvement company crossed continents to Turkey and Spain before going back to its home region.

Vietnam’s home improvement industry is estimated to hit USD 18.29 bn this year, with offline sales making up an overwhelming 92.2 per cent of the total take. Hardware and building materials are the bestsellers, contributing USD 12.84 bn of the total sales. The lawn and garden segment, a poor second, trails with a contribution of USD 1.51 bn. The industry is expected to grow by 3.18 per cent between now and 2028. Vietnam’s home improvement market is highly fragmented with no dominant players.

With the venture into Vietnam, Mr. DIY only has two untapped markets left in Southeast Asia – Laos and Myanmar.

Mr. DIY’s expansion, however, is not expected to end the year with just the Vietnam entry – Leo Gan, business development senior vice-president for the group, earlier announced that it would be opening in two countries this year. Expectations are rife that the…