Naivas moves in to a space that was recently occupied by South Africa’s supermarket chain Shoprite. The supermarket chain exited the country barely two years after a pompous launch.

The South African supermarket chain announced plans to shut down its loss-making Kenyan business by December 2020.

The firm’s financial statements for the year ending June reveal that the supermarket has taken an unsecured KSh1.5 billion loan from Stanbic Bank carrying a 9.7 percent interest rate and payable in 21 months.

Shoprite cited underperformance of the Kenyan franchise closing the Waterfront branch in April this year. This was followed by the closure of the Mombasa outlet leaving Westgate mall and Garden City outlets, which will be wound up by December this year.

The supermarket chain also faced stiff competition from local franchises Naivas, Carrefour, and Quickmart which have been on an expansion drive.

The supermarket chain sector has proved to be rather difficult t hack. In the recent past, we have witnessed the exit of Shoprite, Choppies, and Nakumatt from the Kenyan market.

Tuskys supermarket has also been facing issues and could be on its way out as well