Lao Cai City: Many business districts are "as empty as during Covid-19"

“As empty as during Covid-19”, “streets like the first day of Tet” are images comparing the business districts in Lao Cai city at this time. A series of small shops have “closed their doors” and are closed, behind which are many reasons.

Ly Cong Uan Street, afternoon of May 28.

Ly Cong Uan Street, Kim Tan Ward, Lao Cai City is famous for being a place for trading in items such as fashion , children's toys, consumer goods, restaurants, eateries... bustling with buyers and sellers, but in the past few days it has been unusually deserted. On the street there are only a few fruit, beverage, and coffee shops operating but not many customers passing by.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, who sells juice, sighed and calculated: In nearly a day, I only sold 100,000 VND worth of juice. If it goes on like this every day, how long will it last?

Mr. Dinh's regular customers are the shop owners nearby, who usually order a glass of juice every day, but now that the vendors are closed, Mr. Dinh's juice stand is directly affected.

Many stores are not open.

Find out the reason why small traders closed their shops en masse, some said they would stop selling until the end of June, others said they were traveling or sending their children home for summer vacation, and many others revealed the reason for closing was because they were afraid that the inspection team of the functional sector would launch a peak campaign to prevent and push back smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods.

Posing as a customer who needed to buy something, a Lao Cai Newspaper reporter contacted a children's clothing shop in Kim Tan Ward and was told that if you want to buy something, you have to call in advance, the shop owner will open the shop for sale, then close again. This shopkeeper said: We are closing because we are afraid of the inspection team, the closing time will probably last for several weeks.

Not far away, a small business selling children's toys also had its doors locked. The front door was locked and sealed. When we arrived, Mr. Quang - the shop owner - was getting in his car to leave. According to Mr. Quang, the reason for closing the shop was because of sluggish business and lack of customers. The monthly rental fee for the premises is 6 million VND, in addition to many other expenses, with the current situation, Mr. Quang is calculating to return the premises.

A large fashion shop also closed.

Implementing the Prime Minister's direction on launching a peak period to combat, prevent and repel smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the new situation, from May 15 to June 15, 2025, the functional forces in Lao Cai city conducted many inspections and raids on counterfeit, fake, poor quality goods, and goods of unknown origin. The goal is to combat, prevent, repel and eventually end smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods and infringement of intellectual property rights in the area. Hearing this information, many small traders were afraid of making mistakes and chose to close their shops.

However, besides some retailers choosing to close their stores, some other retailers are still operating as usual because they believe this is the right policy to protect consumer rights, but they want to receive specific notice to avoid unnecessary confusion and anxiety.

A food trader at Nguyen Du market shared some of the difficulties they have encountered in recent times such as Covid-19, competitive market, economic difficulties... which have caused a decline in purchasing power. However, they support solutions to combat smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods in the new situation, and also expressed their desire to implement radical solutions to restore transparency, healthy competition in trade and business, and protect the rights of consumers and legitimate traders. In addition, traders also want to widely announce the situation and inspection methods to avoid rumors and exaggerations that make them confused and worried.

A series of shops "closed doors".

According to the representative of Market Management Team No. 1 - the unit directly managing Lao Cai city area, during this time, the team is strengthening management work, coordinating with functional forces to inspect and control the market, in order to promptly detect, prevent and strictly handle violations, especially for acts of trading in counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin; focusing on goods with high demand during Children's Day 1/6, food... The goal is to ensure the quality of goods and protect the legitimate rights of consumers. From the beginning of May until now, Market Management Team No. 1 has coordinated with functional forces to inspect and detect 30 violations, paying the budget 234 million VND. The main violations are trading in goods of unknown origin, counterfeit brands, goods without listed prices...

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/thanh-pho-lao-cai-nhieu-khu-pho-kinh-doanh-vang-nhu-thoi-covid-19-post402504.html