Tuskys’ branch at Eldo Centre Mall in Eldoret town. QuickMart Supermarket has taken up the space Tuskys vacated at Eldo Centre Mall in Eldoret, marking its entry into the north Riift region.
The retailer started operations at the building situated along the busy Uganda road on Friday, stepping up competition for customers with retailers such as Naivas that has a presence in the area.
QuickMart’s head of marketing and business development, Betty Wamaitha, told the Business Daily in an interview Friday that the new store is targeting customers transiting to Uganda through the highway as well as those working in nearby offices.
“We opened QuickMart Eldo Centre Mall branch on Friday. We are bringing the best of foodstuffs, electronics, household goods and so much more,” she said.
The new outlet, coming at a time former retrial giant Tuskys has closed several of its branches will become QuickMarts’ 40th branch in the country and it’s the first outlet in Uasin Gishu County.
The store will provide employment to hundreds of workers around Eldoret town.
The expansion by QuickMart comes at a time Tuskys Supermarkets is facing serious cash flow that has sparked a dispute with suppliers due to unsettled debts.
Tuskys is seeking to sell a majority stake to a consortium made up of a private equity firm and an undisclosed foreign retailer as part of efforts to raise cash to pay suppliers and win back their confidence.
The Kenyan retail industry has in the past seen an entry of new international players like Carrefour raising competition that partly resulted in the collapse of Nakumatt and Uchumi supermarkets.
As a result, retailers like Naivas Supermarkets have sought additional capital to scale up operations in a highly competitive market.
Naivas that opened a new store last month in Kilifi at a space that was vacated by Tuskys signed an agreement with French equity fund, Amethis Fund to sell 30 percent stake to its expansion.
