KENYA – Game Stores, a subsidiary of South Africa’s retail giant Massmart Holdings, has opened its third outlet in Kenya at Kisumu’s Mega City Mall, in western region of the country.
The branch, which is the retailer’s first outlet outside the country’s capital, signals Games’ continued expansion in Kenya and adds to its currently operating stores in Garden City and Karen Waterfront within Nairobi.
Massmart, which also owns Makro, Builder’s Warehouse and CBW retail brands, had earlier this year announced plans of opening 47 new stores between 2019 and 2021.
The formers Chief Executive of the company, Guy Hayward, said that Massmart intended to open about a third of the new space outside its home market with Kenya and Zambia being its major focus markets.
Hayward said that the group plans to open a Builders Warehouse in Kenya in October as it seeks to capitalise on the countries quite strong tourism industry and vibrant economy.
Massmart, which is the second largest retailer in South Africa with majority of its stake controlled by US based Walmart Inc., reported growth in total sales from stores outside South Africa by 3.9% during its six months to end December 2018.
International and local retailers have progressively increased their investment in the country’s retail sector, which according to a study conducted by the Citigroup, is the second most developed retail market in sub-Saharan Africa.
The study shows that about 30 percent of retail shopping is done in formal outlets.
In that spirit, local retailers including Tuskys, Naivas, Quickmart, Magunas, Rams, Souk, and Lemigo Kisumu have successfully expanded formal retail value with the opening of more than 10 fully fledged supermarket branches within the past two months.
Tuskys, one of Kenya’s largest supermarkets, had earlier on announced a three-year plan to increase its foothold by 56.3 percent to 100 new stores in Kenya and Uganda by 2020, from 64 stores it operated then.
Other than Game, Kenya counts of several international retailers such French based Carrefour, Botswana’s Choppies and South Africa’s Shoprite.
