A Guide to Shopping in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

Besides visiting historical landmarks, shopping is also an interesting thing to do that can help you understand more about the lifestyle of people in Saigon. So let's get insights about the fanciest shopping malls, the shopping streets, as well as the crowded local markets in the city.

1/ Shopping Malls in Saigon

Full Guide: Top Shopping Malls in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

In recent years, the number of shopping centers in Saigon has increased rapidly. As an unwritten rule, the newer malls are always more spectacular, bigger, more attractive than the previous one. However, if we must mention the most familiar names, they are Takashimaya (or Saigon Center), Vincom Center, Parkson, Diamond Plaza, Cresent Mall, SV Vivo City, Aeon Malls, and Saigon Square.

Takashimaya Vietnam

Address: 92-94 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, District 1
Type of products: branded clothes, perfumes, and food
Price: high price for luxury stuff, affordable price for food

Takashimaya Vietnam is invested by Japanese and targets to middle and upper-class shoppers. Additionally, Takashimaya Mall is five-floored tall and carrying a wide range of products from famous branches such as Banana Republic, Bebe, Bosnia, and Braun Buffel in a huge total retail space of 15,000 square meters.

The first level is the place for jewelry, cosmetics, and fragrance such as Shiseido, Bobbi Brown, Clarins, L’occitane, Shiseido, Christian Dior, and Laneige. The second and third levels are dedicated to fashion, especially children’s clothing and casual wear for men. Takashimaya also houses a massive food court at the ground floor and luxury restaurants on the fifth floor, where you can find popular Japanese food such as Gyumri, Minamoto Kitchoan, Azabu Sabo, Yamazaki, and Suizan, as well as Vietnamese brands like Phuc Long and Banh Mi Great.

Recently, the balcony located on the 6th floor of Takashimaya is also officially opened to everyone. Space here is quite extensive and cool. Standing in this place, you can have a scenic panoramic view of Saigon.

 

Takashimaya shopping mall

Locating right in the heart of Saigon, Takashimaya is the highlight of the list since it offers a convenient and comfortable stop when you want to go shopping in Saigon during your holiday.

Vincom Center

Address: 72 Le Thanh Ton Street District 1
Type of products: branded clothes, cinema, and restaurants
Price: high price for luxury stuff, affordable price for food and drinks

Vincom Center is a great centralized location for shopping in Saigon. This westernized shopping mall is separated into two buildings opposite each other, Vincom Center A and Vincom Center B. This shopping mall has a total land area of retail at up to 50,000 square meters with more than 250 fashion shops, restaurants, café, and a recreational area. Not only is the ideal destination to live, work, shop and relax for residents and visitors, Vincom Center Dong Khoi is also the first green and energy-saving building in Saigon, with much green space and E-low glass. This is one of the important criteria for evaluating the top architecture in the world.

If you are searching for high-quality or luxury products, then this should be on the top of your list of shopping in Saigon because this place houses many international luxury brands with their flagship stores. You can also enjoy a break time while shopping by stopping at convenient restaurants or cafes. They have food from most regions, including Japan, Thailand, Korea, and international franchises.

 

Vincom Center A and Vincom Center B

Across Dong Khoi Street is Vincom Center A, which is a Baroque French style, contrasting with the modern 29-floored skyscraper Vincom Center B. Although Vincom Center A and Vincom Center B are quite different in architectural style, the shopping areas are much the same, with DKNY, Charles & Keith, Jimmy Choo, and many stores of clothes, jewelry, and perfume.

Saigon Square

Address:
81 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, District 1 (at the corner of Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and Le Loi)
181 Hai Ba Trung, District 3 (near Le Van Tam Park)
Type of products: clothes and shoes
Price: reasonable prices, and much more appealing price if you master bargain skill

Saigon Square has two branches; one is on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and the other is on Hai Ba Trung Street. Not as luxurious as the above-mentioned malls, Saigon Square is like a fancy version of a local market since it locates indoor, has air condition and offers various items. Like other local markets in Saigon, you will need to bargain if you shop here. Additionally, the merchandise here is classified and sold in kiosks like an open market. The quality of goods here is relatively good, customers are mainly young shopaholics and foreign tourists. In particular, in the last days of the year, both branches of Saigon Square offer a lot of attractive promotions for all kinds of different items, serving the needs of all customers.

See Where to Buy Knockoff Designer Brands in Saigon.

Saigon Square

To have fun trips in Ho Chi Minh City, check out our authentic motorbike tours with professional local guides!

 

2/ Local Markets in Saigon

Full Guide: Saigon on Bikes through Local Markets

Besides the fancy fashion boutiques and glamorous shopping malls, shopping in the traditional local markets is all about the bustling where the goods are at much lower prices. Moreover, it is a great opportunity to find a potential deal and practice bargaining skills.

Ben Thanh Market

Address: Le Loi Street, District 1
Type of products: almost everything, including clothes, fabric, food, cooking equipment, accessories, and watches
Price: varies and cheap, but be careful with overpricing since tourists are often charged a higher price

When mentioning local markets in Saigon, Ben Thanh Market is always at the top of the list. Being one of the famous landmarks in Saigon, the market is mainly for tourist consumption and provides every souvenir you can think of, including trinkets, t-shirts, hats, coffee, coffee filters, tea, fresh fruit, lanterns, lacquerware, art, dodgy electronics, toys, jewelry, watch, shoes, purses, and snacks. You can end up hauling all these things home.

Besides goods, street food in the market is outstanding and authentic. However, Ben Thanh Market is a very big crowded market, and thus, browsing throughout the market can be exhausting, it is advisable that you should take a short break to try some dishes or just do some people-watching. You should also take good care of your belongings, as there may be snatching and pickpockets lurking around the place.

Ben Thanh Market

Dai Quang Minh Market

Address: 31 - 35 Chau Van Liem Street, Ward 14, District 5
Type of products: Accessories, handmade products
Price: approximately VND 20,000 for a bracelet or necklace

It can be said that there are no handmade lovers who do not know about Dai Quang Minh Market. Dai Quang Minh Market and Soai Kinh Lam Fabric Market are just one intersection away from each other in District 5. This place is regarded as a paradise for handmade materials. You can easily find many iconic materials for accessories like rings, leather cords, beads, fabric flowers, sewing, lace, ribbons, and pendants. Moreover, they are all sold at cheap prices. This market also supplies raw materials for many jewelry pieces or handmade shops in Saigon.

Soai Kinh Lam Fabric Market

Address: 465-473 Tran Hung Dao Street, District 5
Type of products: textile and fabric
Price: VND 40,000 - VND 250,000 for one meter. Wholesale prices are available.

Soai Kinh Lam Market (also known as Dong Khanh Mall) is an old market and is considered a fabric paradise. This market is the address for fashion lovers, designers, or open clothing businesses. Situated at the end of Tran Hung Dao Street, you are easily overwhelmed by Soai Kinh Lam from the moment you set foot here. The whole area is clearly separated into different subdivisions, each of which sells its own kind of fabric, including khaki, cotton, linen, leather, chiffon, and buckram, with various colors.

Soai Kinh Lam Market

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3/ Shopping Streets in Saigon

Full Guide: Top Shopping Streets in Ho Chi Minh City

Nguyen Trai Street

Address: Nguyen Trai Street, District 1 and District 5
Type of products: clothes and shoes
Price: around VND 70,000 to VND 400,000 per item

Nguyen Trai Street is quite a long street connecting District 1 and District 5. This street is extremely popular among teenagers since it gathers numerous fashion shops at local prices. However, as an inevitable consequence, the quality of clothes is not as good as branded clothes, but the style is widely varied and trendy.

The interesting thing is that this street's fashion and price are clearly divided. If you are shopping in District 5, the fashion shops here mostly sell cheap imported or exported clothes. Meanwhile, Nguyen Trai Street in the area of District 1 gathers the famous brand name in the country and even international brands. It can be said that Nguyen Trai Street is a shopping heaven for college girls or office girls since the brand's style is quite polite and feminine. It has a typical brand fashion chain such as Hnoss, Tinfour, and Dottie. In addition, there are also brand clothing stores for events such as Magnon and JT Lane.

Nguyen Trai Street

42 Nguyen Hue Apartment

Address: 42 Nguyen Hue, District 1
Type of products: designer clothes, shoes, coffee shops, and restaurants
Price: around VND 350,000 for clothes, VND 50,000 for coffee

Nguyen Hue Street is the center of most luxury services, from restaurants, hotels, to shopping. But the most stand-out shopping place on this street is the 42 Nguyen Hue Apartment.

From the outside, you surely cannot imagine that inside a dusty apartment, there are many extravagant and luxurious stores, just like other stories on the streets. The fashion at these shop fashions are extremely stylish and quickly catch the trend for young people. Additionally, the shop owners are often also very young and well-known in the youth community. For those artistic young owners, 42 Nguyen Hue Apartment is a great place to liberate creativity and create a sense of secret mysteries when someone wants to come.

42 Nguyen Hue Apartment

For shoppers, the sense of mystery and curiosity while shopping is an interesting experience. Walking down the old stairs, you can find high-quality stores and incredibly modern. It's like you've discovered a hidden gem. This is something that the youth generation in Saigon now extremely likes. Besides this apartment, there are several others around District 1 at an address like 14 Ton That Dam; 42 Ton That Thiep; or 26 Ly Tu Trong.

4/ Things to Buy in Saigon

Full Guide: What You Should Buy in Saigon

Coffee and Tea

Brought to Vietnam by the French colony in the 19th century, coffee and tea plants have been grown in many provinces in Central Highland, Vietnam. Both the quantity and quality are of great value. There are many variants for you to choose from. And don't forget to buy the tin coffee filter to make the Vietnamese coffee style at home.

 

Coffee beans and dried tea leaves/petals

Buy Vietnamese Coffee online!

Silk and Custom-made Clothes

Even though silk craft villages are mostly in North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City and other major cities in Vietnam are the consuming places and exporting ports. Along with many stores selling high-quality silk, there are also shops that sell fabric and make bespoken suits and dresses in the city's center, like District 1. The tailors' skills are highly praised, and the costs are considered affordable. That is why custom-made clothing should be one of the best things you should shop for while in Ho Chi Minh City.

Summary of Shopping in Saigon

Saigon is a bustling business land. Therefore, it can be said that you can find anything here since the variety of goods is able to meet almost every need. When it comes to shopping, especially for clothes, you would be stunned by the incredibly cheap price and the widely varied style. Consequently, shopping in Saigon could definitely be a highlight of your trip.

Besides the aforementioned list, you can check out our private tours here. These will take you around Saigon with many excellent stopovers, including shopping locations.

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