Tuskys heightens rivalry with branch at Ngong PCEA mall

Tuskys Supermarket at the City Stadium Roundabout, Nairobi. The retailer is opening an outlet in Ngong Town. Photo/DIANA NGILA 

By  Annie Njanja, ANjanja@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Tuskys is taking up 60,000 square feet on the ground floor of a mall in Ngong town.
• It will come head-to-head with Naivas, Kenya’s third largest retailer, which has two stores in the Kajiado county town.

Ngong Town’s first mall that was initially set to open last year will host Tuskys Supermarkets from September, cranking up retail competition in the fast-growing Nairobi outskirts.

Tuskys, which is fast putting up stores countrywide, is taking up 60,000 square feet on the ground floor and will come head-to-head with Naivas, Kenya’s third largest retailer, which has two stores in the Kajiado county town.

George Muhandi, of contractor and architect Imperial Concepts, said the second largest retailer will be the anchor tenant at the building owned by the Presbyterian Foundation which has joined private developers tapping into the country’s ballooning middle class.

Construction of the structure kicked-off in December 2012. The three-floor mall will feature shops, a restaurant and food courts occupying 20,000 square feet on the first and second floors.

Another 3,000 square feet will be put into family entertainment facilities, a coffee house, banking section, hospital centres and a 300-car park.

It is estimated that the mall will cost the investors Sh420 million and create hundreds of jobs.

Initially it was designed as a single-floor mall, but the design was later changed to match demand for space by institutions and investors opening business in the town.

“After construction kicked-off, architectural design changes were made and we had to start building the mall afresh,” said Mr Muhandi.

Presbyterian Foundation, one of the investment arms of the PCEA Church, has invested in hospitality, real estate, health and education industries.

The church owns Milele Beach Hotel, Milele Hotel in Nairobi, Milele Resort, a number of hospitals, a university and a teaching college.

The mall joins a host of others under construction in Nairobi and its outskirts. They include Thika Road’s Garden City, a mixed-use development estimated to cost private equity firm Actis Sh26.1 billion.

The Village Market is also receiving a facelift following a Sh5 billion injection into 75 additional retail outlets, restaurants and a 187-room hotel with conference facilities.