Nearly 1,000 supermarkets, malls and food stores belonging to Saigon Co.op have started a promotion programme for the Lunar New Year (Tet) with the theme ‘Khai Tet xanh – Gieo loc lanh.’

All Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co. op Food, Co.op Smile, and Sense City are offering discounts almost until Tet, which falls on January 22 this year, of up to 50 per cent on more than 12,000 essential products and Tet specialities.

Co.opmart and Co.opXtra are selling 40 different Tet gift hampers with combinations of domestic and international brands, especially Co.op private labels.

There is a 15 per cent discount on three million hampers.

Saigon Co.op is also implementing a programme called ‘Gan ket tinh than - Tet xa them gan’ under which customers can order gift baskets at any Co.opmart and Co.opXtra supermarket or online and get them delivered almost for free at any province or city where it has stores. With its wide network, its gift basket delivery service is trusted and being used by more and more customers.

Saigon Co.op's stores will extend their working hours close to Tet. They will remain open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm from January 14 to 16 and 6:00 am to 10:00 pm from January 17 to 20.

They will also open on the last day of the lunar year, January 21, working from 6:00 am to noon.

They will open for half a day again from the second day to the fifth day of the new year (January 23- 26).

From the sixth day of the new year, January 27, operations will return to normal.

Nguyen Ngoc Thang, director of Co.opmart’s operations division, said: “Saigon Co.op has stockpiled abundant quantities of Tet goods. Saigon Co.op's freight routing is smooth across the country, and so customers can have peace of mind when shopping for Tet at its retail systems.”

This year the co-operative has set aside over VND1 billion (US$42,660) to organise 10 free bus trips for 450 workers and their relatives to return to their hometowns in 22 provinces for Tet. — VNS