Naivas has opened an outlet in Eldoret as it steps up its aggressive expansion drive that has taken its branch count to 72.
The retail chain has taken over the former Tuskys space at the strategic Zion Mall within the town’s Central Business District.
It is the third outlet operated by the retailer in the North Rift hub.
Naivas has opened an outlet in Eldoret as it steps up its aggressive expansion drive that has taken its branch count to 72.
The retail chain has taken over the former Tuskys space at the strategic Zion Mall within the town’s Central Business District. It is the third outlet operated by the retailer in the North Rift hub.
Naivas Chief Commercial Officer Willy Kimani speaking on Friday during the outlet’s launch said: “We are delighted that as a home-grown Kenyan brand, we have reached heights previously unprecedented in the retail industry.
Mr Kimani said the new branch named Donyo, translating to champions, will provide 120 job opportunities directly.
“We are committed to creating more job opportunities even during this time when the retail industry is undergoing a lot of challenges,” Mr Kimani said.
The giant retailer is not putting its foot off the gas. It plan to open two other outlets in Eldoret in future to tap into the opportunities presented by the growing population.
“Eldoret is really bustling, it is more of a centre and you will actually find that from our research that Eldoret serves more of the smaller towns around, people come in, do shopping and exit but it is still underserved,” Mr Kimani added.
Other stores lined up for opening before the close of the year are Muindi Bingu (Nairobi), Kisumu, Githurai (Kiambu) and an express store.
The new store in Eldoret is stocked with a variety of quality products to choose from ranging from fresh produce, commodities, electronics and other general products.
“As is the tradition, this new outlet will run an exclusive opening for shoppers to enjoy living up to its brand promise; saves you money and more so during these hard economic times,” said Mr Kimani.
He added that even though around four retails have been in Eldoret but ended up exiting, they have used that to comprehend what should be done.
“Try and make sure that each and every store makes sense, if a store in Naivas does not make sense, we shall shut it down, we shall not shy to open the 72th branch again because we have closed one more. For us to grow, we believe that every unit has to be profitable on its own, it should not depend on the overall profitability of our business,” he elucidated.
Mr Kimani revealed that they got some investors and with the backing of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) embedded in a strong corporate culture.
