When I was in Vietnam last fall it occurred to me at one point that it was the longest I’d gone without seeing a McDonald’s in possibly my whole life. And it was particularly strange because it’s not as if Vietnam is a land free of American fast-food chains. They’ve even got Carl’s Jr.
But we are now just a few hours away from the opening of the Ho Chi Minh City McDonald’s.
What it took to get the store opened was a local partner, a company called Good Day Hospitality. Conveniently enough, the owner of Good Day Hospitality happens to be the son-in-law of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. So it should be a lucrative partnership for everyone involved. Vietnam is small compared to India or China, but its population of nearly 90 million people is much larger than most Americans recognize. It’s a huge market, and it’ll be interesting to see what local menu customizations they come up with. McPho? Mc Banh Mi?
