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There's a growing trend in Ho Chi Minh City’s shopping scene of in-the-know locals and expats opening up enticing boutiques selling fair trade items, housewares, and very stylish locally made items, ranging from fashion to coffee cups.
Considered a traditional fine art of Vietnam, lacquerware is beautiful, long-lasting and—best of all for those with luggage weight restrictions—light. Most tourist shops and markets hawk the same kind of budget lacquerware. Higher quality items come at a price and are usually found in specialty shops. Some of the newer high-rise shopping complexes in downtown Ho Chi Minh City are home to high-end international brands, such as Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Prada. On the other end of the scale, markets offer a cheap and cheerful experience. They are generally open from sunrise until sunset, although some vendors just outside the markets stay open later.
By law, all transactions should be completed using dong, even if prices are quoted in U.S. dollars.
One of Ho Chi Minh City's newest shopping complexes, Crescent Mall, in the Phu My Hung expat area, has just about everything you could want in one shopping experience: a supermarket, an eight-screen movie theater, fashion boutiques, specialty shops, restaurants and cafés, furniture and housewares, electronics, and a children's entertainment area.
Lucky Plaza spans an entire city block, with entrances in Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi Streets, and is stuffed full of stalls selling clothing, shoes, handbags, lacquerware, watches, DVDs, jewelry, sunglasses, and souvenirs.
The first and most central of the Parkson chain of shopping centers, Parkson Plaza has a wide range of fashion, cosmetics, homewares, appliances, and kitchenware, as well as a small supermarket on the top floor.
Five levels of retail therapy in a shiny new glass-and-chrome skyscraper include an eclectic mix of high-end fashion brands, such as Jimmy Choo and Versace, and well-known midrange options, such as Gap and a branch of the British Debenhams department store. There are multiple dining options, a CGV movie theater on the sixth floor, and a Kids Zone on one of the basement floors, with a play area for young children and a large arcade for older kids.
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