Chandarana Supermarket, Two Rivers branch, has been closed after suffering two-and-a-half years of stiff competition from Carrefour, a
giant international retail store.
The retail store closed its doors on Monday, 21, relocating to Ridge Ways Mall along the Kiambu-Nairobi highway.
Plans to relocate began early July when the Supermarket failed to repair its entrance door, which remained closed throughout its operations.
Chandarana Two Rivers branch entrance door closed during operational hours. Photo|Courtesy
Reason
Carrefour’s 2017 campaign to block other retailers from gaining tenancy at Malls where it has already occupied space flopped, allowing
Chandarana Supermarket to operate at the Two Rivers Upper Retail section.
According to Majid Al Futtaim, Carrefour country manager, the competition authority restricts retailers from opening other shops in malls
close to 50 meters from where they operate.
“We are not against competition. But we would like to have a sustainable business that makes a return on investment. We are also restricted from opening shop in other malls, 50 meters close to where we have taken space. This is reciprocity,” said Majid in March 2017.
However, Chandarana Supermarkets Ltd has another branch (Rosslyne Riviera), close to 100 meters from Two Rivers Mall, which could serve a reason enough as to why the retail competition grew stiff.
Since it was opened in 2017, Chandarana Two Rivers branch customer influx rate has been decreasing month by month.
In 2019, the retail store recorded the lowest influx rate, with the least number of sales compared to its other branches across the
country.
Price wars
Although it was the largest branch for the retail company, stiff competition from Carrefour snatched its customers,
reducing the number of sales to less than Ksh 50,000 per day.
Carrefour resorted to a customer-oriented strategy meant to lure and snatch Chandarana’s customers, widening the competition gap.
Price wars have been at the centre stage of these two retail shops, with the majority of customer-oriented products retailing at half the
recommended price, forcing the wicker to capitulate.
Racist email
Chandarana Supermarkets Ltd also lost scores of customers after it was highlighted for racism in its service delivery, prompting Nairobi
Governor Mike Sonko is to revoke its operation license in July.
This is after a racist email from the company’s marketing department surfaced on the internet, implying that the retail chain was only
interested in white clients, with the best offers for the upcoming holiday season.
The mail elicited anger from Kenyans and the online community, who vowed not to visit any of the supermarket’s outlets again.
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