South African retailer Game Stores has opened its third outlet in Kenya at Kisumu’s Mega City Mall, its first branch outside Nairobi.
The move by the Massmart Holdings subsidiary follows its Garden City and Karen Waterfront outlets launch.
The Kisumu branch will be occupying space in the same mall that houses Nakumatt, which has lost nearly all of its prime locations to competitors, signalling increased competition for the troubled retailer.
Game will occupy the mall’s prime space on the ground floor while Nakumatt, which was Mega City Mall’s anchor tenant, is currently on 1st floor. Kenya has the second most developed retail market in sub-Saharan Africa with about 30 percent of retail shopping being done in formal outlets, a Citigroup study has shown, whetting the appetite of global chains.
Last year, the Retail Trade Association of Kenya (Retrak) indicated that the supermarket sector features 25 key players with indigenous investors enjoying a 98.21 per cent market share.
In the last two months such investors — including Tuskys, Naivas, Quickmart, Magunas, Rams, Souk, and Lemigo Kisumu — have successfully expandedformal retail value with the opening of more than 10 fully fledged supermarket branches.
