Shoppers stay away from Nairobi's upscale malls

Members of the public run for safety after smoke was seen billowing from the Westgate Mall in Nairobi on Monday. Photo/William Oeri 

By Mugambi Mutegi,

In Summary

• Traders count losses on third day of siege as security agencies mount assault.
• Some businesses near the affected mall re-opened — after closure on Saturday— but activity remained slow as shoppers stayed away.

Traders in Westlands are coming to terms with loss of business that has set them back millions of shillings in revenue as the Westgate Mall siege entered its third day on Monday.

Some businesses near the affected mall re-opened — after closure on Saturday— but activity remained slow as shoppers stayed away.

A spot-check by the Business Daily found that while Sarit Centre re-opened Monday, there were few customers visiting the establishments that were open. This reduced human traffic was also evident at the Village Market which was open after remaining closed on Sunday.

(READ: High-end shopping malls close following Westgate attack)

At Sarit Centre, businesses like Toy World, DHL, Elite Digital Solutions and Micro-City Computers among others, remained closed altogether.

Sarit’s popular food court on the first floor was among those hardest-hit by inactivity, with only seven customers spotted having lunch there at noon.

Fred Opato, a cashier at Chinese Corner Restaurant, one of the food court’s several eateries, said he had not served a single customer since Monday morning.

“Normally, nearly half of the 500 seats in the food court are usually occupied by 10 am.,” said Mr Opato, adding that they had “lost thousands of shillings in terms of revenue.”

Jaff’s Optical House, located on Sarit’s mezzanine floor, said they had not only lost customers who died in the attack but had also “lost approximately half a million shillings over the past three days.”

Uchumi Supermarket on Monday closed their Sarit Centre branch at around 2:20 p.m., immediately after a large blast caused a huge fire at the mall.

“Attention Kenyans on Twitter, we have closed our Sarit Hyper branch indefinitely a few minutes ago because of the explosion at Westgate,” read a tweet by the supermarket chain.

“Safety comes first for both the customers and our staff.”

Earlier in the day, businesspeople from Marikiti Market were delivering truckloads of vegetables to the supermarket which had remained closed Sunday.

Ritu Magon, the showroom manager at Hotpoint Appliance’s Sarit Centre branch said they were yet to take stock of losses incurred since but by midday Monday, they had made “zero sales.”

Furniture dealers who make and display their wares at the junction of Parklands Road and Peponi Road did not report to work either.