One of South Africa’s biggest retailers, Massmart Holdings Limited, plans to open four stores, including the Builders Warehouse in Kenya.
Builders Warehouse is Massmart’s building materials and appliances chain.
The retail shop, which sells general merchandise, fresh food, groceries, home improvements and appliances is set to open in October in Nairobi.
“Kenya and Zambia have quite strong tourism industries and little bit of local industries, so the economic play is a bit more robust,” stated Group Chief Executive, Guy Hayward.
The retailer warehouse plans to add 47 new stores between 2019 and 2021 in 12 African countries, with about a third of the new space in Zambia and East Africa.
The company set out its expansion plans along annual results, where the retailer reported a 31.7 per cent drop in full-year earnings, drop its shares sharply.
Hayward announced a month after Shoprite from South Africa opened its first store in Nairobi, Westgate.
The company plans to open seven stores in Kenya due to the high cost of renting space.
The South African-based retail states that it has faced a lot of competition from Carrefour, a retail store from Paris.
