Top retail outlets locked in battle for prime city locations

Corporate News

Buyers shop at Eastmatt Supermarkets’ latest outlet on Tom Mboya Street in Nairobi March 3, 2014. Photo/Martin Mukangu 

By SIMON CIURI

In Summary

• Eastmatt Supermarkets on Wednesday opened shop at a premises that Tuskys occupied in the City Centre as Nakumatt moved to snatch a prime location from Naivas on Mombasa Road, in a battle mirroring that of banks’ fight for buildings to house branches.
• The real battle by family businesses is for the control of the CBD market, which has been dominated by Nakumatt but now faces serious assault from ambitious Tuskys, Naivas and Uchumi.

Kenya’s top retailers are locked in a vicious battle for control of prime locations in Nairobi as they eye expansion into areas with heavy shopping traffic.

Eastmatt Supermarkets on Wednesday opened shop at a premises that Tuskys occupied in the City Centre as Nakumatt moved to snatch a prime location from Naivas on Mombasa Road, in a battle mirroring that of banks’ fight for buildings to house branches.

Nakumatt head of strategy and operations Thiagarajan Ramamurthy Thursday confirmed the largest retailer would occupy the upcoming Nextgen Mall on Mombasa Road in the next three months.

The complex at the residential-cum-commercial property had previously been targeted by Naivas Supermarkets.

“The facility will accommodate Nakumatt Hypermarket similar to the Thika Road Mall,” said Mr Ramamurthy. “I don’t want to comment about Naivas' previous interest in the building but what I can confirm is that I was aware of their bid to get the structure. But I have no details of what happened.’’

Naivas Supermarket head of marketing and business development Willy Kimani confirmed the interest in Nextgen Mall, but said its effort to acquire the facility had proved unsuccessful.

“The management of the facility have a working relationship with Nakumatt Holdings and this came with huge demands from the management that was not accommodative,’’ he said without elaborating.

Back to the city centre, the Tuskys’ Tom Mboya outlet was taken over by Eastmatt after being shut down over a lease dispute, highlighting the aggressive fight for space among the top players in the retail sector.

Eastmatt, which has six outlets in Nairobi, has now occupied the premises next to the Fire Station in the city centre formerly known as Tuskys Daima branch.

“We expect to open other stores in the central business district as we explore our expansion plans. We intend to roll out more this year,’’ said Eastmatt senior human resource manager Sam Kariuki.

Eastmatt seeks to replicate the growth of Naivas and Tuskys — both started as small family shops in the Rift Valley before growing into large retailers.

The Tom Mboya outlet becomes its seventh outlet and is located near a bus stage serving the densely populated Kasarani, Zimmerman, Kahawa, Githurai, and Eastleigh estates. It also targets commuters to Ruaka, Huruma and Kabete.

The aggressive space grab has seen Tuskys acquire three Ukwala Supermarket outlets in Nairobi’s Ronald Ngala Street, Jogoo Road and Tom Mboya Street.

On the other side of town, Uchumi is currently locked in a legal battle with its landlord who is seeking to evict the retail chain from its Ngong Road, Nairobi, branch over Sh4.2 million rent arrears in a dispute being watched closely by the rivals.

The retail chain claims that Kenya Bowling Centres Ltd has threatened to seize and auction its goods over the arrears, which Uchumi argues it has cleared.