Vincom Retail (VRE) Signs QooQoo Deal to Bring Korean Buffet Chain to Vietnam Malls

Overview

Vincom Retail (HOSE: VRE) signed a cooperation agreement in Hà Nội with South Korea’s QooQoo Franchise Group to develop QooQoo restaurant chains inside Vincom shopping malls and commercial streets, with Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City named as the priority markets for 2026-2027. QooQoo operates roughly 90 premium buffet restaurants in Korea and reported system revenue of KRW 397.6 billion (about VND 7,000 billion) in 2024. For VRE, the agreement is a tenant-mix and footfall initiative rather than a capital commitment.

Key Facts

• The signing ceremony took place in Hà Nội, attended by Kim Young-gi, Chairman of QooQoo Franchise Group, and Phạm Thị Thu Hiền, Deputy General Director for Business at Vincom Retail.
• QooQoo was founded in 2011 and operates about 90 franchised restaurants across South Korea.
• QooQoo’s 2024 system revenue reached KRW 397.6 billion, equivalent to roughly VND 7,000 billion, with average revenue growth above 30% per year since 2022.
• The rollout focuses on Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City during 2026-2027, covering Vincom-managed shopping malls and commercial street areas.
• QooQoo’s brand ecosystem includes the QooQoo sushi buffet, the Blue Rail conveyor-sushi chain and the Always Shabu hotpot chain, plus food import, distribution and e-commerce activities.
• The agreement includes two-way trade promotion: Vincom Retail promotes QooQoo in Vietnam, while QooQoo introduces the Vincom system to Korean consumers and the Korean business community.
• The announcement does not disclose the number of outlets planned, the investment value, or the revenue-sharing structure.

What Happened

According to the agreement announced by the two companies, Vincom Retail and QooQoo Franchise Group will study opportunities to develop restaurant chains from the QooQoo ecosystem within the shopping malls and commercial streets managed by Vincom Retail. The 2026-2027 phase concentrates on Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City, described as the two key markets. The companies framed the deal as giving QooQoo access to Vietnam’s more than 100 million consumers through the country’s largest retail real-estate network, while adding international dining formats with proven chain operating capability to Vincom’s brand portfolio.

Kim Young-gi, Chairman of QooQoo Franchise Group, said the partnership marks an important step in the group’s Vietnam expansion strategy and that Vincom’s nationwide mall network and experience with international brands underpinned the choice. He added that QooQoo hopes to act as a bridge promoting the Vincom system in Korea. Vincom Retail’s Phạm Thị Thu Hiền represented the Vietnamese side at the ceremony. The companies cited the growing “experience dining” trend, in which mall visitors come not only to shop but to discover new destinations, as the commercial rationale.

Market Context

VRE closed at VND 24,950 on 21 October 2026 on HOSE. Vincom Retail is the largest shopping-mall operator in Vietnam by gross leasable area and sits within the Vingroup ecosystem; its earnings are driven by mall occupancy, rental rates and tenant sales rather than by development gains. The QooQoo tie-up lands as Vietnamese retail real estate competes for experiential food-and-beverage tenants to defend footfall against e-commerce, and as Korean brands continue to expand in Vietnam’s consumer market. The agreement is a memorandum-level cooperation and does not alter near-term earnings.

Strategic Significance

The thesis for VRE rests on rental growth from a differentiated tenant mix, and food-and-beverage anchors are among the highest-productivity categories per square metre in Vietnamese malls. Bringing a Korean buffet operator with roughly 90 outlets and a 30%-plus annual revenue growth record gives Vincom a credible anchor format for larger floor plates, which supports occupancy in newer or lower-traffic assets in Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City. The two-way promotion clause is the more unusual element: QooQoo will market Vincom to Korean retailers and investors, a channel that could feed future Korean tenant demand across VRE’s portfolio. The absence of disclosed capital commitments means the deal carries limited downside but also limited near-term financial impact.

What to Watch

• A signed lease or franchise agreement naming specific Vincom malls and outlet counts, which would move the deal from study phase to committed pipeline.
• VRE’s quarterly occupancy and same-store rental updates for Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City assets.
• Disclosure of any capital contribution, joint venture or revenue-sharing terms, none of which were stated in the announcement.
• Follow-on Korean tenant signings that would validate the two-way promotion channel.
• QooQoo’s Vietnam pricing and supply-chain arrangements, given its food import and distribution operations in Korea.