Enyewe I'm starting to believe there is an oversaturation of malls in Nairobi City. Imagine 3 or so malls within a few tens of metres away from each other. And the food courts are largely empty. And stores look very idle. Add crazy overheads for such prime spaces. And competition from ordinary stores outside such malls with a fraction of the overhead! This niche is definitely a dangerous one to get into unless your mall product and location is outstanding and unique.

The estimation of Kenyan "middle class" is overblown. It is not even that they don't exist....but they spend their disposable income VERY differently from their Weestern or other counterparts.

https://www.constructionkenya.com/6166/kenya-shopping-malls-strategy/

Interesting article. This is so true:



Imagine Mugundaman traipsing through Two Rivers on a Saturday morning.

He will already start complaining bitterly about having to pay for parking even before he steps in.

Then there he goes..huyooooo...past all the sijui LC Waikikis and all sorts of "high end" hopeless jewelers that charge 500k for a diamond ring - marching solidly to Carrefour. Hata ndani ya carrefour - the cheapest of all the outlets in the whole mall - he will be very price conscious. He will pick up a 1kg frozen kuku with skepticism. Ati 8 hundred bob? Sahau. These things go for 450 bob at Naivas. 300 bob or less from my neighbour Kamau a.k.a "Gitono" (desert locust) who breeds the real thing in his back yard. And his is tastier!

After walking around getting good exercise reading the "high priced" labels of the food, he will only happily emerge from the store with two packets of KCC milk for tea and perhaps a bunch of spinach. He carried his own bag to avoid getting ripped off of 10 bob for a new one of course. If there is a java nearby he might head there for the free wifi. Out of guilt he may order something. Always from the bottom left "tiny print" corner of the menu. "Bring me two sausages, one egg - all on the same plate - and house coffee white" Total bill 590 bob. And will still complain that he could have made this meal at home for a fraction of the price.

Meanwhile he is busy investing all over the place tu. How can such a person be a customer of a high end shop in a mall? Haiwesekani hata kamwe. This is good for the economy though. The more of such people we have the faster the country will develop because they are not wasting money on consumerism that adds zero to national savings nor the personal bottom line. The Chinese are also the same. By the time you see a Muchina blowing thousands in a casino you know tens if not hundreds of millions are busy relaxing in his accounts. Wahindi are worse. Trying to get a muhindi to part with a shilling is like trying to get blood out of a stone. Ask Russell Peters. . That's why their economies are growing at crazy %'s.

Sitaki matusi, but the British economy, amongst other Western nations, is highly reliant on the retail sector, especially fashion to keep the economy ticking.

https://www.constructionkenya.com/6166/kenya-shopping-malls-strategy/

Interesting article. This is so true:



Imagine Mugundaman traipsing through Two Rivers on a Saturday morning.

He will already start complaining bitterly about having to pay for parking even before he steps in.

Then there he goes..huyooooo...past all the sijui LC Waikikis and all sorts of "high end" hopeless jewelers that charge 500k for a diamond ring - marching solidly to Carrefour. Hata ndani ya carrefour - the cheapest of all the outlets in the whole mall - he will be very price conscious. He will pick up a 1kg frozen kuku with skepticism. Ati 8 hundred bob? Sahau. These things go for 450 bob at Naivas. 300 bob or less from my neighbour Kamau a.k.a "Gitono" (desert locust) who breeds the real thing in his back yard. And his is tastier!

After walking around getting good exercise reading the "high priced" labels of the food, he will only happily emerge from the store with two packets of KCC milk for tea and perhaps a bunch of spinach. He carried his own bag to avoid getting ripped off of 10 bob for a new one of course. If there is a java nearby he might head there for the free wifi. Out of guilt he may order something. Always from the bottom left "tiny print" corner of the menu. "Bring me two sausages, one egg - all on the same plate - and house coffee white" Total bill 590 bob. And will still complain that he could have made this meal at home for a fraction of the price.

Meanwhile he is busy investing all over the place tu. How can such a person be a customer of a high end shop in a mall? Haiwesekani hata kamwe. This is good for the economy though. The more of such people we have the faster the country will develop because they are not wasting money on consumerism that adds zero to national savings nor the personal bottom line. The Chinese are also the same. By the time you see a Muchina blowing thousands in a casino you know tens if not hundreds of millions are busy relaxing in his accounts. Wahindi are worse. Trying to get a muhindi to part with a shilling is like trying to get blood out of a stone. Ask Russell Peters. . That's why their economies are growing at crazy %'s.

The thrifty Mugundaman knows very well that it is the defense rather than the offense that counts when it comes to wealth creation. I was once a mall junky/fool but nowadays i prefer to purchase my groceries hapo mtaani where i can kula story with Mogaka the shopkeeper when he weighs my quarter Kilogram of sugar, chat with mama Njeri when she katakatas my coktail of sukuma wiki and spinach and also analyse sportpesa bets with Mutinda the butcher when he katakatas my matumbo ya mbuzi etc. Atleast in mtaani i personalize my shopping

In malls, supermarkets, bata shops, safaricom etc are always busy since they sell items at normal rates. But some stores are too expensive especially those selling clothes except maybe LC waikiki that has normal prices.

I think malls should appeal to the regular customer, not targeting just the high end customer. They should also sell normal foods like ugali, fish, beef stew, rice etc where one can enjoy family lunch or dinner. Not everyone likes overpriced junk food like pizzas, broiler chicken and chips, burgers etc....or the overpriced "steak" that goes for 1800 bob a plate.

South African retailer Shoprite is set to take up space at a new mall under construction off Nairobi’s Uhuru Highway.

The firm in a statement Tuesday said leases have been signed with Nanyuki Cedar Mall developer Kiloran Development Group, which will see it take up 4,000 square metres as an anchor tenant at the shopping complex.

The new mixed use property, dubbed The Beacon, will be 28,500 square metres (306,771 square feet).

It is located to the east of Uhuru Highway towards Bunyala Road roundabout.

“Shoprite has signed up with Kiloran for a flagship store of almost 4,000 square meters in the iconic development ‘The Beacon’ located in the centre of Nairobi," said the firm.