Naivas, Carrefour duel for Kisumu’s shoppers with new stores
Two leading supermarket chains, Naivas and Carrefour, are to open their doors in Kisumu in the coming weeks as the scramble for the lakeside city’s growing middle-class shoppers intensifies.
Two leading supermarket chains are to open their doors in Kisumu in the coming weeks as the scramble for the lakeside city’s growing middle-class shoppers intensifies.
While French giant retailer Carrefour wants to make a grand entry by opening two new outlets in a race against Naivas, which already has two vibrant branches, the latter will open a third shop as it seeks to maintain its dominance.
Naivas Chief Commercial Officer Willy Kimani confirmed that a third store will open next month at Simba Club Hall on the busy Kisumu-Kakamega highway.
The venture is expected to heighten competition and shake Carrefour, which is known for stocking a wide range of food items and an assortment of non-food products.
“We are due to open the store at the beginning of the third week of July,” Mr Kimani told the Nation, adding that the food market concept is in line with their strategic mission to extend the modern design series across all major urban centres.
Final touches
Naivas has already branded its store and is doing final touches on its open ground, where customers will park their vehicles.
The opening of a new branch comes almost a year after Naivas acquired a 24,000-square-foot space at Mega City Mall on the busy Kisumu-Nairobi highway.
The new store will stand a few metres from United Mall, where Carrefour will take over the space previously occupied by Tuskys, which closed under the weight of debt.
Carrefour is also scheduled to open a second store in space vacated by Tuskys at Mega Plaza Mall on Oginga Odinga Street.
But Carrefour officials were non-committal on when they will start operations in Kisumu.
“We will issue a statement to the media at a later date,” said Carrefour official Julien Coudevylle.
New life
The entry of Carrefour in Kisumu is expected to pump new life into and enhance footfall at Mega Plaza and United malls, which suffered after the closure of the troubled Tuskys.
With Carrefour, Kisumu will now host major supermarket chains, including Chandarana, Game, Quickmart, Shivling and Khetia’s.
The retail chains are hoping to tap into infrastructural developments in the lake region, including the rehabilitated Sh3 billion Kisumu port and the revamping of the old railway line.
