According to Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, small traders doing business at Thu Duc Market (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) said they were very worried after receiving a notice of adjustment to increase the price of using selling space at the market (stall rent) according to Document No. 14664 issued by the People’s Committee of Thu Duc City in November 2023.
According to the document, 3 positions including the commercial center, Thu Duc Market A, and Thu Duc Market B have all increased stall rent prices. The new prices do not include land rent and costs for electricity consumption, water usage, sanitation, waste collection, and other incidental expenses.
Specifically, for Thủ Đức Market B, the stalls at the entrance, main walkways have stall rents ranging from 29,000 – 38,000 VND/m2/month increased to 111,000 VND/m2/month; stalls without entrance, main walkway have stall rents ranging from 30,000 – 34,000 VND/m2/month increased to 103,000 VND/m2/month (including VAT)… a three-fold increase compared to the initial prices.
Ms. Đoàn Thị Thu Thủy (69 years old), a shoe trader (under the name Phan Thị Thu Vân) in the commercial center area, lamented that since the COVID-19 pandemic (in 2020) until now, business has been extremely stagnant.
“The market has been getting quieter every year. I’m old, so I try to hold on to earn money for my old age. The monthly stall rent for me is about 135,000 VND, if the rent is increased to 336,000 VND/month, plus about 75,000 VND/month for sanitation and security fees, it’s more than 400,000 VND/month, excluding utilities… While the monthly revenue is only about 4-5 million VND, there’s not much profit left”- Ms. Thu Thủy said.
A shoe stall always deserted
Ms. Nguyễn Thị Kim Cúc (54 years old), the owner of a stall selling cosmetics and souvenirs, Kim Cúc from booth 95 to 100 (total area of 18 m2), not far from there, also said that the trend of customers buying online has caused the purchasing power at stalls to decrease by 70%-80%.
“The stall rent I currently pay each month is 810,000 VND. If it increases according to the regulations, it will be about 2.016 million VND/month (excluding sanitation and security fees), equivalent to a 2.5-fold increase. Meanwhile, with stagnant business, I still have to support my 2 children in university. It’s very difficult!”- Ms. Cúc lamented.
Chợ Thủ Đức Market A empty despite being on the street frontage
Or at Thu Duc Market A, Ms. Hoàng Thị Thu Hằng, a leather shoe trader with booths 38-40-42-44 (total area of 32.55 m2), said the monthly rent she has to pay is about 980,000 VND/month (corresponding to 30,100 VND/m2), if increased according to the new notice, she will have to pay up to 3.64 million VND/month, nearly 4 times higher.
According to other small traders, after the price increase notice, some traders have proposed to increase prices gradually or wait for the market to recover before increasing prices. Some other traders have collectively signed Petitions for recommendation and support sent to the People’s Committee of Thu Duc City with the desire to postpone the price increase of services.
Ms. Đoàn Thị Thu Hà, a representative of the Thu Duc Market management unit, said that the market is managed by enterprises, while the stall rent is decided by the People’s Committee of Thu Duc City. Currently, Thu Duc Market has 936 stalls, but only 634 stalls are still active, 232 stalls are inactive, and 70 stalls are temporarily closed. Traders, when they heard about the rent increase, are worried to the point that they dare not even restock their goods.
Explaining why small traders are reacting, Ms. Hà said that the stalls at the entrance, the main walkways seemed to be the best for business, but currently, they are the ones closing the most due to poor sales, even bankruptcy and debts. Therefore, when they heard about the stall rent increase, they became extremely worried.
“I hope that the People’s Committee of Thu Duc City will consider postponing the stall rent increase for the first 6 months of 2024 because the market is facing many difficulties, and then increase it gradually to make it easier for traders. We will try to propagate and mobilize traders to accept it, to avoid them leaving the market”- Ms. Đoàn Thị Thu Hà suggested.
Petition for support from small traders
Traders using their phones while waiting for customers
