KENYA – French retailer Carrefour will next month take over Nairobi’s Thika Road Mall (TRM) space vacated by struggling rival Nakumatt Holdings.

This will be the third outlet for Carrefour, whose local franchise is held by Dubai-based conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim.

The new store is expected to employ 200 people, raising the company’s staff count to 800.

Carrefour is one of the beneficiaries of Nakumatt’s decline, with the Kenyan retailer closing more branches in recent weeks on the back of stockouts and rent defaults among other parties.

“The opening of our third Carrefour store in less than two years of operations illustrates our ambitious growth and expansion plans in the region,” Franck Moreau, the country manager at Al Futtaim Retail (Kenya), said in a statement.

“This new hypermarket will offer our customers who use the busy highway access to wide variety of products at the most competitive prices, offered at world-class standards.”

Carrefour’s current stores are at Nairobi’s The Hub and Two Rivers malls.

The TRM outlet covers over 5,000 square metres selling area and will cater for the growing population segment residing in Roysambu and Kasarani as well as those travelling along the busy Thika Road.

It will cover two floors of the mall whose construction was completed in 2013, with the projection of starting operations at the upper level of the mall next month, and having full operations on both floors by mid-2018.

Al Futtaim currently works with over 640 suppliers, local manufacturers, producers and farmers.

​​​Business Daily