Carrefour is set to open two branches in Kisumu as it hopes to cut down on Naivas Supermarket dominance and get a piece of the lakeside city’s growing middle-class shoppers.
The French giant retailer is banking on their strategic location at United Mall along the busy Kisumu-Kakamega highway and Mega Plaza at the central business district to stamp their presence against old players in the region.
The announcement by Naivas to open its third outlet at the prime Simba Club Hall which is a few metres from Carrefour’s United Mall property could, however, spoil the party for the new entrant.
Naivas chief commercial officer Willy Kimani confirmed that their new store will be opened mid next month.
Among other items, the new Naivas Supermarket will offer packed food, fresh vegetables and fast-moving consumer goods such as beverages. They will also stock clothes and electronics.
“We are due to open the store at the beginning of the third week in July,” said Mr Kimani in response to Business Daily inquiries, adding that food market concept is in line with their strategic mission to extend the modern design series across all major urban centres.
Carrefour is known for stocking a wide range of food items and an assortment of non-food products. Naivas has also branded their store and doing final touches on its open ground where vehicles will be parked.
Busy highway
The opening of a new branch comes close to a year after they acquired a 24,000 square feet of space at the Mega City Mall along the busy Kisumu-Nairobi highway.
Carrefour takes over the previous spaces occupied by Tuskys which closed shop under the weight of debt.
Our effort to get the exact date of their launch, however, hit a snag as the management remained non-committal on when they will kick off their operations at the lakeside city.
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