Naivas intensifies battle for Thika highway with 29th store

Naivas Supermarket will open its 29th store October 30, 2013 to cut the dominance of Nakumatt and Uchumi retail chains along the Thika Superhighway. Photo/FILE 

By Mugambi Mutegi

In Summary

• The Naivas branch will be located at the newly constructed Mountain Mall, which sits 100 metres from Uchumi’s outlet and about less than two kilometres from Nakumatt’s TRM branch.
• At the mall, Naivas will occupy three floors or 55,000 square feet of space in a block that will also house Bata, fast food chain Galitos, National Bank and Chase bank.
• Uchumi’s Jipange sits next to where a Nakumatt store was demolished in 2008, meaning that it will face off with Naivas for now and Nakumatt, which next year will open another store at the Sh12.6 billion Garden City mall opposite the Mountain Mall.

Thika superhighway is set to become the centre of competition as Naivas Supermarket opens its 29th store Wednesday morning to cut the dominance of Nakumatt and Uchumi retail chains.

The Naivas branch will be located at the newly constructed Mountain Mall, which sits 100 metres from Uchumi’s outlet and about less than two kilometres from Nakumatt’s TRM branch.

“We are seeing growing market opportunity along Thika Road. The area is currently underserved since it has less than 10 stores, including those operated by the competition,” said Willy Kimani, Naivas business development and marketing manager.

“The Mountain Mall store is not only ideal since it is located along the superhighway but also because it is at a junction branching off to several estates including Thome and Garden Estate.”

At the mall, Naivas will occupy three floors or 55,000 square feet of space in a block that will also house Bata, fast food chain Galitos, National Bank and Chase bank.

Uchumi Supermarkets look set to feel the pinch of the rivalry as new entrants increasingly look at residents on the hinterland of the superhighway, partly because its outlet is housed on a smaller building.

Uchumi’s Jipange sits next to where a Nakumatt store was demolished in 2008, meaning that it will face off with Naivas for now and Nakumatt, which next year will open another store at the Sh12.6 billion Garden City mall opposite the Mountain Mall.

Completion of the Sh30 billion road has seen multi-billion shilling shopping malls spring up as real estate investors and retailers seek to tap into a growing middle class with growing disposable incomes and a limited choice of leisure activities.

The concentration of well-heeled shoppers within these malls is acting as an attraction for the leading supermarkets.

The boom is attracting well-known brands like South Africa’s Massmart, fashion group Foschini and a Mauritian retailer—which have all booked space at the 50,000 square-metres mall Garden City.

READ: Garden City leases out 70pc space

Garden City will be bigger than Sarit Centre, which measures 30,000 square-metres, Junction Mall at 26,000 square-metres and Westgate Mall (30,000 square metres). Uchumi recently said it was planning a revamp of ‘Jipange’ to match the rivals.

Naivas Supermarket is a family business started under the trading name Rongai Self Service Stores Ltd operating within Nakuru before expanding to Elburgon and Naivasha.

Low-income

The supermarket chain, which was registered in 1998, is steered by brothers Simon Mukuha and David Mukuha, who are listed as its directors on the firm’s website. The retail chain is at the centre of a family feud triggered by the planned sale of a 51 per cent stake to Massmart.