Centum chief executive James Mworia. PHOTO | FILE
By KIARIE NJOROGE, gkiarie@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
French retailer Carrefour is seeking the competition
watchdog’s nod to be the sole retail operator at Two Rivers Mall, in an
application that if approved could lock out other Kenyan supermarket
chains that may be eyeing space in the high-end shopping compl
The retailer, jointly with the mall owners, have submitted
to the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) an application for exclusive
occupancy over a lease period of seven years.
The Two Rivers Mall in Ruaka, Nairobi County, is backed by listed investment firm Centum.
It is billed as the biggest mall in the country, overtaking Garden City
upon completion. Carrefour has booked space as the anchor tenant.
“Two Rivers Lifestyle Centre Limited shall not
lease to or enter into any similar arrangement with any party for the
premises in a centre developed owned or operated by it within a radius
of seven-and-a-half kilometres of the centre for the purpose of
establishing or conducting the business activity of a hypermarket,
supermarket or any other similar business,” CAK said, quoting the
agreement between the two parties.
Centum chief executive James Mworia, however, said
the agreement only relates to the large hypermarket business and
excluded small supermarkets.
“At Two Rivers we’ll still have the small
supermarkets like Chandarana,” he said in an interview, adding that the
exclusivity for the larger hypermarket space was because Carrefour had
shown a lot of commitment by leasing 120,000 square feet.
The agreement points to Carrefour’s attempt to
ring-fence its Two Rivers business against stiff competition in the
Kenyan retail sector.
By its sheer size and location, Two Rivers is
expected to generate considerable business — putting newcomer Carrefour
in a firm position to compete with the more established retail brands.
Malls in Kenya have traditionally had one
supermarket as the anchor tenant but the bigger Garden City leased space
to two retailers, Nakumatt and South Africa’s retailer Massmart,
operating through its subsidiary Game.
Mr Mworia did not disclose if Carrefour would pay a
premium to have the exclusive retailer rights, terming it as internal
commercial affairs.
CAK director-general Wang’ombe Kariuki said this is
the first time they have received an application for exclusive rights
by a retailer in a mall.
He declined to give any other details, saying it
would be prejudicial to the application. The CAK has given 30 days for
interested parties to submit their written presentations on the matter.
The agreement between Two Rivers and Carrefour
further gives the retailer the undisputed right to display its logo on
external signage space as well as have the largest display on the walls.
The Sh25.2 billion Two Rivers Mall was set to be
opened in October last year, but this was pushed to this month although
Mr Mworia was non-committal on whether this new date would be met.
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