Empty shelves inside Nakumatt’s Kisumu County branch on November 26, 2019. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP Nakumatt, Uchumi, decades-long Ebrahims and Ukwala brands have defined Kenya’s shopping culture for many years.
Today, all of them have left the stage in a painful story of mismanagement, debt and others looting.
When Choppies ventured into the Kenyan market five years ago, it had hoped to capitalise on the exit of Ukwala and Nakumatt.
There is a programme on CNN called Club100. Hosted by Ciryl Vanier, the programme tells the story of brands that have been in business for 100 years or more.
Vanier interrogates how these entities have survived the vagaries of time to not only remain firmly in operation, but also to define consumption habits across the world and even become part of popular culture.
These brands have a common denominator: they are all defined by resilience.
COLLAPSE
The story of supermarket business in Kenya is a tragic paradox. While some retailers collapse under the weight of enormous debts, lack of stock and unpaid salaries, others, ironically, seem to be living their best days, opening up branches all over the country in quick succession.
Nakumatt, Uchumi, decades-long Ebrahims and Ukwala brands have defined Kenya’s shopping culture for many years. Today, all of them have left the stage in a painful story of mismanagement, debt and others looting.
Joining them recently was Botswana-owned Choppies who are set to exit the local market after five years of operations.
The closure of these businesses almost always follows the same pattern: empty shelves, unpaid suppliers, bulging rent arrears and massive layoffs.Employees who remain are demoralised for having to turn customers away, and for going for months without pay. Before the business snaps.With Naivas, Carrefour and Shoprite now running the roost in the local retail business, the supermarket landscape in Kenya is not what it used to be.Even to Kenyans, the dramatic transformation of the scene has been difficult to fathom, with the subject forming part of a vibrant discourse on social media. CHANGING SCENES ‘‘How we moved from Nakumatt and Uchumi to Naivas, Carrefour and Shoprite is beyond me.’’The tweet captures the sentiments of millions of other Kenyans who have watched the brands fall through the trapdoor in the most embarrassing fashion.Ebrahim’s Supermarket had for many years endeared itself to Kenyans who know Nairobi’s shopping scene well. The shoppers had a secret: if you couldn’t get a […]
