December shopping fails to gather steam

Farid Abubakar, owner of Godown Sale, a retail outlet on Langata road Nairobi inspects some products in the shop on December 12 2017.Most traders are counting losses as business declines due to the political turmoil in the country.[Photo: David Njaaga/Standard]

It is December and that means the long festive season has arrived, but retailers have yet to see the usual upsurge in business normally associated with the long Christmas period.

December shopping has done very little to rescue what may be the worst year for retailers who have observed broke customers pace outside their outlets without buying.

With banks denying their customers loans as a result of the rate cap, spending power has shrunk. As this problem persisted, the retailers have had to endure days of closing their businesses during the intense electioneering period to avoid looting.

Farid Abubakar, whose clothe-selling business and 10,000sq godown located along Nairobi’s Lang’ata Road near T-Mall, is facing a downturn after business was battered for the better part of this year. However, he remains hopeful as the year comes to a close.

“I am yet to really understand what has happened with 2017. I hear the long election period and a credit freeze from banks was the cause of these hardships cutting across businesses, but that aside, I hope 2018 brings better fortunes,” said Mr Abubakar.

Rosemary Amuhaya, who sells clothes at Nairobi’s Toi market in the outskirts of the politically explosive Kibera slums, is still grappling with the difficulty her business has experienced in 2017.

“I have been selling clothes for five years and this is the worst year I have encountered. I am even thinking of looking for a different kind of employment if this persists next year,” said Amuhaya.

Bad business has seen retailers send home their workers, with some employees leaving on their own after almost six months of unpaid salaries. Nakumatt supermarkets is one such company.

Abubakar said he had to lay off some of his employees this year and now only remains with five attendants.

Abubakar’s ingenious business model is intended to compete with open air markets such as Toi and Gikomba, which cater for a clientele more inclined to haggle over prices.

Sorry scene

“It is true most of my merchandise is secondhand. But given the location of my go-down, I attract a middle-class clientele from estates as far as Karen and Lang’ata. But still business has been tough even if the merchandise is discounted,” explained Abubakar.

2017 will go down as the year when Nakumatt lost its suppliers’ goodwill and was subsequently a sorry scene of empty shelves and endless court battles in efforts to stay open.

While Uchumi supermarket has announced a last-minute bid to restock to catch a bit of the Christmas cheer, it has also spent the better part of the year in stockouts and with a skeleton staff.

“We look forward to welcoming our returning and new customers in this first step in the resurgence of the Uchumi brand – home of value,” the retail chain announced Wednesday, adding that it is in talks to get a deep-pocketed investor.

As the year closes, some business have picked up pace, including hotel room bookings and local tourism, with the Madaraka express fully booked for trips to Mombasa on the standard gauge railway.

Online holidaying website Booking.com says that in the past one month, more than one million visitors recommended it to family and friends looking for a holiday destination in Kenya.

The electronics market has also seen increased sales by cutting prices with November sales deals dubbed ‘Black Friday’ even as online retailer OLX has recorded a 10 per cent increase in the number of secondhand car searches on the platform during this peak sales season.

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