Saigon Square vendors shut up shop

Only a few fashion and footwear shops were open Friday morning at the mall in District 1 as market authorities continued their counterfeit goods inspection, which began Tuesday.

Vendor Hoa said the inspection has slowed down her sales. “We have no choice but to keep the store closed until the end of this week.”

Lan, another vendor, said that although her store is closed, she still sells to some customers while she waits to reopen her stall once the inspection is over.

Managers of the mall said that 90% of vendors are watching the situation to see when they could reopen their stalls.

“They said that in previous years, only 5-10% of vendors have typically shut up their shops and that it has never reached Friday levels.”

The inspection is part of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance’s initiative to change vendor attitudes toward selling counterfeit goods.

Authorities confiscated 2,000 products with no clear origin Tuesday and thousands of other products Wednesday. Most of them are labeled Chanel, Gucci, Dior, and Louis Vuitton.

More inspection of counterfeit goods in HCMC will be conducted later.

Saigon Square was launched in 2000 and is considered a “shopping haven” in HCMC thanks to its large amount of goods.