Nakumatt could lose more stores, cut jobs in new plan

Nakumatt supermarkets said Monday it would slash costs by at least Sh1.5billion annually in a restructuring that could mean more job cuts and store closings.

Through its business restructuring phase, the regional retailer said the plan will streamline its operations and actively manage and reduce its total cost base guided by a recently developed operating strategy.

Nakumatt Holdings Managing Director, Atul Shah said in a statement that that the new operating strategy has been developed to provide a recovery platform for the firm and replaces the Nakumatt 2.0 strategy.

Alongside management enhancement programmes and specific cost cutting interventions, the new strategy, Shah said, will see the firm reducing its store keeping unit (SKU) exposure by retaining frequently purchased items and delisting slow moving products.

The store will also effect a strategic branch culling exercise targeting several of its poorly performing branches in Kenya and Uganda as part of the cost cutting strategy. The branch culling exercise is also expected to see the opening of new branches at carefully selected high traffic locations.

The announcement comes barely two months following the closure of its Ronald Ngala branch in Nairobi due to low sales that left it unsustainable to maintain, shrinking the total number of retail branches to 63.