How the mighty fall: The sad decline and death of Nakumatt

(Photo: Courtesy)

Every time I saw him in any of the stores, he looked awkward in an oversized Nakumatt Supermarket branded T-shirt. He was there among the employees, pushing a carton here or attending to a customer there. It was not easy to tell who the master was from the servant. Yet I knew he was the manager.

Indeed, compared to its rivals, Nakumatt employees were extremely courteous and always ready to assist. It now appears that beneath that façade of a company doing very well, there was so much wrong going on in there. It is confounding how the management concealed billions of debt now weighing heavily on the retail chain.
So how did Nakumatt get here?