After 34 years, Sarit eyes new life in Sh4bn revamp

The wave of real estate development in Kenya has not only been pegged around residential houses or gated communities, but also the construction of swanky shopping malls.

Developers are setting new standards in terms of size and quality - with a case in point being the recently launched multibillion shilling Two Rivers and Garden City shopping complexes.

Sarit Centre, which opened its doors in April 1983, has, however, managed to stave off increased competition and still cater to an average 20,000 visitors every day.

But just like Village Market that has felt the pressure of new entrants and undertook a Sh5 billion expansion in 2014, Sarit last week unveiled its own Sh4 billion plan as it seeks to reinvent itself.

“Our consumers are getting younger and are savvier. We see the change as an opportunity to grow our legacy, hence the expansion,” the Sarit Centre director, Nitin Shah, told Enterprise in an interview.

“We are looking for ways to keep visitors at the mall after 6pm. We are open to fine dining options like specialty restaurants, pubs, cinemas. The new space will also have international retailers who have recently expanded into the country.”

Located in Westands, a few minutes drive from the city centre, Sarit sells itself as “a City within a City.”

The current complex sits on a 500,000 square feet space, on six levels, offering a modern and diverse shopping experience that entails more than 70 retail service outlets and 50 other tenants.

The new mall, which is being constructed adjacent to the existing mall, will add an extra 300,000 square feet of space.

Nitin, 62, says the expansion, the first major one by the business since its launch, will have more retail shops, bigger exhibition and conferencing spaces, a parking silo, a roof garden with restaurants and more entertainment spaces.

Sarit Centre was founded by two close friends — Sobhagayachand Vidhu Shah (Nitin’s father) and Maneklal Rughani.

After Kenyan Independence, the two, who were separately working in family businesses in Murang’a and Karatina towns respectively, saw opportunity in the exodus of foreigners.

They relocated to Nairobi to sell school books. In 1964, the duo founded Text Book Centre, a bookshop with more than 10 branches in Nairobi and one in Kakamega.

Mr Shah was at this time living on the site currently housing Sarit together with his extended family.

After a visiting a shopping centre in London, Mr Rughani, after a discussion with Vidhu, decided to replicate what he saw in Nairobi.

Construction was abruptly halted following a coup attempt in 1982, forcing the duo to scale down the project. However, in April 1983, they opened their doors.

“My father and Mr Rughani ventured into this business when many investors were selling their businesses and leaving the country, scared that there was not economic future in independent Kenya,” Nitin said.

“Sarit Centre made it possible for Kenyans to enjoy the mall experience in the 80s and we hope to do it again through the expansion.”

Some of the retailers who have expressed interest in moving into the new shopping centre include Turkey’s LC Waikiki (which is currently operating in Two Rivers) and South Africa’s Woolworths.

Sarit does not have immediate plans to expand the business away from the site, Nitin said.After the ongoing expansion, Sarit will still have 13 acres of idle land.

While some family-run businesses in Kenya have run into managerial headwinds, Nitin says it is a blessing to them.

“Decision making is quick in family run business. That is what has given us an edge over and above our loyal customers. One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” he says.

A 2016 Knight Frank report showed that Nairobi has the largest mall development hotspot in the region with around 470,000 square metres of shopping centre space in the pipeline.

This status secured it a top five position among other sub-Saharan Africa cities.