Many stalls in Vinh City are still struggling despite deep price reductions.

Currently, non-essential items such as fashion and cosmetics are experiencing very low customer traffic. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Although social distancing measures have ended and the Covid-19 pandemic is under control, Vinh City has entered a "new normal" state, with business and trade activities resuming. However, due to the impact of Covid-19, business has become sluggish and stagnant.

Unable to stay afloat, many business owners are forced to give up their prime locations on main streets and move to smaller streets, side streets, or alleyways to cut costs. In many cases, unable to hold out any longer, they resort to putting up "liquidation" signs, returning the premises, and temporarily ceasing business to "cut their losses."

Many fashion shops, unable to survive, have liquidated their inventory, returned their prime street-front locations, and relocated to reduce costs. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Pham Phu, the owner of a perfume and cosmetics shop on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street who recently moved to Kim Dong Street, said: “The rent for the shop on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street was 13 million VND/month, but now it's only 7 million VND. Although it's not as convenient or bustling as the old location, cutting costs in half at this time is a huge relief. Here, the shop is just for display; the main business is online.”

Existing tenants are vacating premises, while new tenants are hesitant to invest in businesses during this difficult period, resulting in sluggish rental demand on the streets of Vinh City. Many landlords say that even with price reductions, there are still no tenants, as very few people dare to risk opening a business at this time.

Many fashion shops on Nguyen Van Cu Street are offering promotions, discounts, and advertising premises for lease. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Nguyen Duc Anh, the owner of ashop for rentA resident on Nguyen Van Cu street said: “After the previous tenant vacated the shop, I put up a ‘for rent’ sign, posted on various websites, groups, and even asked real estate agencies to post the ad, paying transaction fees and advertising costs, but after 3 months, no one has finalized the lease. In 15 years of renting out premises, I’ve never had to advertise to find a tenant like this. Before, as soon as one person started moving out, someone else would immediately put down a deposit to rent it.”

Previously, shops for rent on streets like Nguyen Van Cu, Tran Phu, Dinh Cong Trang, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, etc., were considered ideal and convenient locations for business, highly sought after by shop owners and rarely vacant. However, after successive waves of the pandemic, rental prices on these streets have decreased by an average of 30-50%, yet there are still no tenants.

Throughout the streets, there are countless "for rent" signs; some locations have had these signs posted for nearly a year but still haven't found tenants. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In other areas such as Le Viet Thuat, Nguyen Phong Sac, Tue Tinh, and An Duong Vuong streets, numerous kiosks display signs advertising "space for rent" at preferential prices.

In addition, many landlords are offering various support policies such as: Rent only needs to be paid once a month instead of 3-6 months in advance as before; rent is reduced by 30% compared to before; support for painting, renovating, and redecorating the premises as requested…

Browsing through some social media sites, information pages about...real estateIn Vinh City, it's not difficult to find information about renting business premises, workshops, or transferring ownership of shops, as many business owners post ads for these.

Many commercial spaces are vacant, and rental prices are also trending slightly downward due to the general cautious attitude of many business owners, who are waiting for the pandemic to end before investing again, resulting in a sluggish market for rental properties.

According to real estate experts, after a year of economic downturn due to the pandemic, sluggish sales are a common reality for most businesses. Reduced purchasing power has deterred small business owners from renting premises due to the high costs. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed consumer habits, with most shifting from in-store purchases to online shopping.

Therefore, the demand for renting street-front commercial space is decreasing and is no longer as sought after as before. Consequently, it will take a long time for the commercial space market to recover and return to its true value, rather than experiencing the price surge seen previously.