Companies

Carrefour trains sights on Mega space after Nakumatt exit

mega

Nakumatt Mega Supermarket. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA

French retailer Carrefour is poised to take tenancy of the Nakumatt Mega space once existing tenants leave the premises.

Nakumatt’s lease at the space on Uhuru Highway in Nairobi expires at the end of the month after a 26-year tenancy.

“As part of our growth and expansion plans, and with a view to providing high-quality products at the most affordable prices in the best possible shopping environment, we actively seek to occupy some of the most strategic shopping spaces available.

“To this end, we expressed our interest in taking up the retail space on Uhuru Highway, when vacated by the current retailer. We are, however, not in a position to disclose any other details, at this point,” said Franck Moreau, country manager, Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets Ltd —the exclusive holder of French retailer Carrefour’s franchise in Kenya.

Carrefour has been on a major expansion drive, taking up spaces previously occupied by struggling local retailers Uchumi #ticker:UCHM and Nakumatt at prime spots including Village Market, Sarit Centre, Junction, Galleria and Thika Road Mall.

Last year, Majid Al Futtaim recorded Sh8.2 billion in sales from its local business riding on the expansion of the retailer.

Carrefour, which launched its first store in Nairobi in 2016, currently operates two hypermarkets, one at the Hub and the other at Two Rivers. The other outlets are currently small stores offering mainly basic essentials.

“We are on course in delivering on our promise to convert stores, which are using a partial selling area model into fully fledged hypermarkets with over 30,000 products offered. The contractors are on the ground and together we are committed to adhering to the timelines that we shared. We will communicate the opening of each of the stores, upon completion,” said Mr Moreau.