F&B chains prosper in HCM City, struggle in Hanoi Most of the world’s food & beverage chains prefer HCM City over Hanoi and the north when they head for the Vietnamese market.   McDonald’s, which opened its first shop in February, has opened three more shops and chosen sites for its next stores, which will all be located in HCM City. Meanwhile, there has been no clear sign showing that the US fast-food giant intends to march towards the north. The first Dairy Queen (DQ) ice cream shop opened in HCM City. QSR Vietnam, the company that brought the well-known brand to Vietnam, stated at the opening ceremony in January that it would open 60 shops in the next five years, mostly in HCM City. Jean Champagne, chief operating officer of Dairy Queen Global, told the local press earlier this year that HCM City was the target market in Southeast Asia for DQ. The US company Starbucks has also been focusing on developing the HCM City market since it landed in Vietnam in early 2013. Only in the third quarter of 2014 did the brand enter the northern market. NYDC is an Asian café chain that has been present in central HCM City for the last six years with six branches located in advantageous positions. However, it still has not opened shops in Hanoi. A manager of NYDC said it was not the right time to join the northern market due to the differences between the southern and northern markets. “It will take us a lot of time to prepare human resources for the new market so that we can have the same service quality in both the north and the south,” he explained. Vietnamese shops are also cautious about the northern market. Urban Station, which has been expanding very rapidly with 34 branches over the last two years, has only six shops in Hanoi. Startup, a Vietnamese café chain with five shops, is going to open two more stores, but only in HCM City. Mai Truong Giang, Startup’s CEO, revealed that he plans to cooperate with a partner to open a branch in Hanoi because he does not want to enter the market alone. “There are big differences between Hanoi and HCM City markets in tastes, service quality and consumption habits. It is also difficult to find retail premises and franchisees,” he said. According to James Duong Nguyen, managing director of D'Corp R-Keeper which provides sale management solutions, F&B chains have been more successful in HCM City than Hanoi for a number of reasons, largely because HCM City is large and HCM City residents are more “open” than Hanoians. While consumers in HCM CIty are eager to try new things and can easily adapt to new circumstances, Hanoians tend to be more cautious. They will not try new food or services until they are sure that the new products are good and suitable for them. Mai Chi, VietNamNet Bridge