Strengthening its presence in the Kenyan retail market, Naivas Supermarket, opened its 84th branch along Nairobi-Naivasha Highway targeting travellers.
Optimistic of the store’s financial state Naivas Chief Financial Manager Willy Kimani said that they are making progress to remain financially afloat despite the economic turbulence in the country.
“The innovative idea to establish our stores along the highway is because we want to leave no one out along the highways. The travellers are our target customers because they don’t need to penetrate the CBD to get what they need,” Kimani said.
“Naivas continues to outperform other retailers in its expansion drive to maintain market dominance when compared to its peers such as QuickMart and Chandarana Supermarkets that currently have 51 and 24 branches, respectively. In light of this, the retailer also plans to open another outlet in Meru town this year,” Analysts from Cytonn Investments comment on the retailers’ expansion drive.
In terms of performance, according to Cytonn’s Kenya Retail Report 2021, Nakuru County where Naivasha lies recorded average rental rates of Kshs 59 per SQFT, 39.9% lower than Kenya’s market average of Kshs 118 per SQFT, a sign of affordability being the retailer’s basis of investments.
This is also coupled with high occupancy rates at 80.0%, 2.4% points higher than the market average of 78.4%, signalling more uptake of retail spaces in the area and an indication of high footfall in retail centres.
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