Naivas takes over Uchumi space at upcoming Kiambu road mall
Uchumi Supermarkets outlet in Nairobi’s central business district. PHOTO | FILE
Naivas Supermarkets has taken over space that was earlier booked by its cash-strapped rival Uchumi as the anchor tenant of an upcoming mall on Kiambu Road, where it plans to open a new outlet in May.
Uchumi had booked space at a property dubbed Ciata City, currently under construction.
The Ciata City mall is being built opposite Ridgeways Mall which houses Nakumatt Supermarkets, the country’s leading retailer by sales.
Naivas chairman Stephen Mukuha said Monday that the retail chain has signed a contract replacing Uchumi.
The construction of Ciata City has been ongoing since 2014.
“Upon discussions with the mall’s owners, we concluded that the space available in the initial mall is not adequate for the kind of outlet we want,” Mr Mukuha said.
“Naivas will build a one-floor outlet in the same site and recover the investment from the rent we would have paid had we leased the premises. “Construction is to commence next week. We are targeting to open in May.”
Mr Mukuha did not give details about the outlet’s size or the estimated capital investment.
Ciata City’s anticipated opening will raise the competition bar for Nakumatt, which is the only major retailer along the busy road.
Uchumi’s cash-flow constraints have forced the retailer to re-evaluate its expansion plans, including exiting the regional market and shutting local, non-performing outlets including in Naivasha and at the Syokimau Railway Station.
The retailer has also given up space at buildings it had booked at Kenyatta University Unicity mall.
Attempts to get a comment from the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed retailer on the reason for its exit from Ciata City were not successful by the time of going to press.
Naivas, a family-owned retail chain with 38 branches, had entered into talks to take over as anchor tenant at Unicity mall but Mr Mukuha says these discussions did not yield positive results.
The retailer in December opened a branch in Ukunda, again replacing Uchumi, which wanted to open in the area but disagreed with the property owner over how it was going to finance the facility.
Nakumatt has over the years enjoyed a monopoly along Kiambu Road since its competitors are yet to set up along the highway or even in Kiambu town.
The retailer is set to open an outlet in Kiambu town by the end of this year.
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