QuickMart opens Roysambu outlet in growth drive

Supermarket QuickMart will Friday open its 27th outlet in Roysambu, Nairobi, as it seeks to strengthen its hold on the growing middle class and working class market.

The supermarket last year merged with Tumaini Supermarket, making it Kenya’s third largest retailer. The chain has been working on rebranding all former Tumaini branches to QuickMart with the merger fully operationalised effective from January 1.

In November, QuickMart opened a branch in Ongata Rongai and announced that it would open six new outlets in 2020.

In an interview with the Business Daily ahead of today’s opening of the Roysambu branch, QuickMart’s head of marketing and business development, Betty Wamaitha, said the area’s close proximity to the Thika Superhighway and numerous estates had attracted more working-class, creating the demand for retail sector.

“We target the everyday Kenyan looking for excellent service and products offered at an affordable price,” Ms Wamaitha said.

Due to the high human and motor traffic in the area, the new store will operate on a 12-hour basis, with 30 percent of the shop space allocated to fruits and vegetables, deli, bakery, butchery and cereals sections. This is besides the usual offerings of liquor, electronics and furniture.

The firm currently has other stores in Ruaka, Ruiru, Thika Road, Lavington, Hurlingham and Rongai with four of its branches operating on a 24-hours basis.

In September last year, Sokoni Retail Kenya, a special purpose vehicle controlled by private equity firm, Adenia Partners, concluded a deal to acquire a majority stake in QuickMart at an undisclosed amount. Sokoni Retail had acquired a majority stake in Tumaini in 2018.