Choppies’ outlets across the country are struggling with stocks almost out at its Kisumu, Nanyuki and Embakasi and Mombasa road branches.
The retailer has six branches in Kisumu city and eight others spread across major towns including Nakuru, Kisii and Kericho.
The firm ventured into the country by taking over Ukwala Supermarkets in 2016, barely surviving four years in the competitive Kenyan market.
Botswana-based Choppies supermarket has now shut down its Kiambu town branch, coming just days after the retailer’s Bungoma outlet was closed owing to stock shortage.
Interestingly, Choppies was picked as the anchor tenant at the newly built Kiambu Mall after the developer dropped former market leader Nakumatt Supermarkets in 2017 due to financial difficulties, a similar fate now suffered by the Botswana chain.
The closures, which are reminiscent of debt-ridden retailers Nakumatt and Uchumi’s troubles in the last year, come amid reports of the firm’s revenue losses and infighting at the management level in Botswana.
Choppies’ other outlets across the country are also struggling with stocks almost out at its Kisumu, Nanyuki and Embakasi and Mombasa road branches. The retailer has six branches in Kisumu city and eight others spread across major towns including Nakuru, Kisii and Kericho.
“Choppies workers have not been paid in full to date. They have also failed to pay suppliers for a while now and this explains the closure of some branches and empty shelves on others. The supermarket is now dealing with similar issues faced by Nakumatt and Uchumi,” said Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied Workers (KUCFAW) Secretary General, Bonface Kavuvi.
The firm ventured into the country by taking over Ukwala Supermarkets in 2016, barely surviving four years in the competitive Kenyan market.
Woes at Choppies hit a climax last year when Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange halted the trading of its shares over the supermarkets chain’s failure to release financial results for the year ended 30 June 2018.
The retailer has since been hit by a myriad of challenges with the latest being the suspension of its chief executive officer, Ramachandran Ottapathu, in May following a board agreement.
Earlier in March, the board announced that the company would embark on legal and forensic investigations and would follow its recommendations later.
Choppies has operations in seven African countries, including South Africa and Zimbabwe with 212 stores down from 260.
The company had earlier said it is still operating below break-even in Kenya and its other new markets such as Zambia and Mozambique.
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