Residents queue up to enter a supermarket in HCMC’s Go Vap District to do the shopping. Supermarkets and food outlets in the city will close before 5 p.m. every day - PHOTO: TNO

HCMC – As HCMC has enhanced its anti-pandemic measures and banned all residents from going out from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., many supermarkets and food outlets in HCMC have announced that they would operate until 5 p.m. every day, from today, July 26, instead of 10 p.m. as earlier.

They will open earlier by 30 minutes to an hour. The municipal Department of Industry and Trade has worked with retailers in the city on their opening hours, the local media reported.

Some supermarkets will even close at 4 p.m.

The early closure of supermarkets will help their employees return to their homes before 6 p.m.

A representative of AEON Vietnam said it had informed its customers of the new time of operation.

Similarly, MM Mega Market Vietnam will open at 6:30 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.

This morning, July 26, some retailers reported that their employees could not visit the workplaces. Shippers also found it hard to deliver goods to other areas. Many outlets also readied the goods which consumers ordered online but found no one to deliver them.

Supermarkets have plans to launch itinerant sales programs to meet the demands of local residents.