So this September they opened Ham Long Trading Supermarket, on Hanoi's Ham Long Street, which offers imported canned and bottled foods, cleaning supplies, and beauty products, as well as clothing and furniture at prices that undercut its neighbor and ex-pat staple Singaporean-run "Western Canned Goods" by about 20 percent. The rented space, formerly a watch and clock warehouse, now features high ceilings, organized rows, and is clean and brightly lit.

Asked why he opened Hanoi's eleventh supermarket, he pointed out the abundance of counterfeit goods, from baby power to cigarettes. "The consumer needs genuine goods at the right price, guaranteed," he said. Prices in the street stalls might be a bit cheaper, but "they want a place to rely on, or complain." And a wider selection.

The market niche Hiou describes reflects a sweeping, nation-wide consumer awareness that for the first time in decades, due to higher wealth combined with a better selection of products, calls for the best that money can buy.

That, plus a rapidly rising brand awareness, have created a stronger reward incentive to produce a market of counterfeit goods. Hiou presents his supermarket as the alternative.

Another angle, he hopes, is that the store "is on a small street between to main streets, so there is a place to park a motorbike or car." Ham Long Trading Supermarket is located on a street known for specializing in cook ware, so he also stocks a variety of those types of products, careful to include pots, tea sets, and oven ware from America, which is often requested.

Another difference from most Vietnamese shops is that their location was selected, rather than simply existing there because they happened to be born on the second floor of the building. 

Seventy percent of the market's customers are Vietnamese and spend an average of 100,000VND ($8) per visit, he said. The foreigners who account for the rest have less regular spending habits, but buy more food products.

Few locals roam the aisles purely for sport, laughing at the prices, in contrast to other markets in Hanoi, where one can find eight taco shells for $7.

Yet even in Vietnam's privileged city, the lagging economy is causing competition between markets at a time when shopping at them remains somewhat of a novelty (two recently closed).

But Hiou, formerly a watch and clock trader and a mechanical engineer by training, said he relishes the challenges of marketing.

Aside from a parade of manufacturer-tied promotions, he has tricks of his own to "get people to line up" during January's Tet. As a watch merchant, three years ago he gave discounts on Teacher's Day and free bottles of wine with each purchase during Tet season, when promotions were unheard of.

Hiou and his wife employ 40 staff members, including accountants, sales people, and a team of marketers that checks competition for pricing and selection. Sales people also keep notebooks and record requests for products they don't have available, Hiou said.

Future plans include a fresh fruit and vegetable section, which would be one of the first in Hanoi. Those items are normally sold in the streets.

The key to keeping quality high, he said, was to buy directly from the manufacturer. That process has given him a first-hand lesson in international marketing.

He and his wife and the other supermarket owners rely on a 30 percent profit margin built into the wholesale price of the imported product. Less than 20 percent of the market's shelves offer Vietnamese products, although the industry would like to offer more and this has become a point of frustration.

The problem? Retailers normally work toward a two to ten percent profit margin, enough for a converted living room point-of-sale but not a renovated establishment like Trading Supermarket.

Presently Vietnamese industries are not responding to this market-oriented problem, and markets are not lobbying them to change. In the meantime, local products sold in supermarkets are loss-making but aim to please customers who also buy profitable goods. Ham Long Supermarket and others are excellent bell-weathers of Vietnam's consumer behavior and evolving demands.