Nakumatt Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Atul Shah, on Monday explained that the closure of two banks in the country by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) was one of the major reasons why the supermarket collapsed.
Speaking during an interview with Business Daily, Mr Shah noted that Nakumatt started going down when Imperial Bank and Chase Bank were placed under receivership by the CBK.
"The Nakumatt engine relied heavily on bank loans to roar on. For a long time, things were fine; we would repay the loans and readily get some more.
[caption caption="File image of Nakumatt CEO Atul Shah"]
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"When the two banks collapsed, and the new law took effect, money dried up. Despite repaying our loans, nobody was willing to finance us. The cycle stopped abruptly; Nakumatt’s fuel was no longer available," he explained.
Regarding a potential merger that was supposed to rescue the supermarket, the CEO explained that "it just did not happen".
Addressing the way forward, Mr Shah divulged that Nakumatt will focus on fast-moving products for the time being.
The CEO, however, noted that he was a stress-free man adding that his experience in the industry had taught him much more.
“Me? Stressed? No. I am a man who has perfected the art of managing stress. I have been through tens of stressful situations, including Westgate and the Downtown branch fire,” Mr Shah stated.
Nakumatt has for the last few years been facing tough times leading to the closure of most of its big branches in the country and firing of staff.
[caption caption="Exterior view of Nakumatt City Centre branch"]
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The number of staff is reported to have reduced to 2500 from an estimated 4,000 employees with the branches reducing to 34 from 63 in the East African region.
Last year, Nakumatt shut down a number of branches that include; Nakumatt Lifestyle, Nakumatt Westgate, Ronald Ngala branch, Nakumatt TRM, Nakumatt Moi Avenue and the NextGen Mall branch along Mombasa Road.
