Shoprite’s City Mall outlet in Mombasa, its third store in Kenya and its first outside Nairobi, is set to open in August 2019. The store was home to Nakumatt’s Nyali branch until March 2018, when it was evicted over rent arrears.
Shoprite says the store will create 115 jobs and also feature a small food court. Shoprite has entered into a partnership agreements with 28 fresh produce suppliers from across the Kenya but will also follow its model of relying heavily on its South African supply chain. It is the Shoprite’s third store in Kenya, after its flagship Westgate Mall (December 2018) and Garden City Mall (March 2019) outlets opened, both in Nairobi. Shoprite had reportedly agreed to take over seven spaces in total in Kenya, in former Nakumatt and Uchumi locations.
Its next store opening will be in The Waterfront, Karen (Nairobi), where it is a co-anchor tenant. Massmart’s Game open its store at The Waterfront in 12 December 2018. Shoprite will also launch at least one more store in 2019. Shoprite is definitely playing a patient game – not rushing to open stores quickly, even as rivals such as Carrefour (Majid Al Futtaim) have accelerated their programme of store openings.
Elsewhere in East Africa, Shoprite has five stores in Uganda but exited Tanzania in 2014.
