Uchumi Supermarkets, often referred to simply as Uchumi, is a Kenyan

supermarket chain A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

. The word means "economy" in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

Overview

Uchumi is headquartered in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. , Uchumi is one of a number of Kenyan supermarket chains that serve Kenya, including market-leaders

Naivas Naivas Supermarket, often referred to simply as "Naivas", is the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, with 106 outlets as of November 2024. At that time, it was the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, ahead of Quick Mart Limited, which had 51 o ...

Quick Mart Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile), ...

and

Carrefour Carrefour Group, S.A. (, ), is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, Essonne, Massy, France. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores. By 2024, the group had 14,000 ...

. In June 2014, the company's assets were about US$78.8 million (KES:6.885 billion), with shareholder equity of approximately US$38.4 million (KES:3.357 billion). By December 2020 there were only three stores in Kenya.

History

The company was founded in 1975, as a public limited liability company, by three Kenyan

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

companies:

Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

Kenya Wine Agencies Limited Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL), is a first line manufacturer, importer and distributor of wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages History The company was founded in 1969 by the Government of Kenya, to consolidate and streamline the impor ...

(KWAL), and Kenya National Trading Corporation. The main objective at the time was to create outlets for the equitable distribution of commodities and to create retail outlets for Kenyan manufactures. In 1976, Uchumi's shareholders signed a management contract with Standa SPA, an Italian supermarket chain, to train Kenyans to run the new enterprise. The shares of the company

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

were listed on the

Nairobi Stock Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was established in 1954 as the Nairobi Stock Exchange, based in Nairobi the capital of Kenya. It was a voluntary association of stockbrokers in the European community registered under the Societies Act in ...

(NSE) in 1992. Uchumi closed down, albeit temporarily, and was placed in receivership during June 2006 after 30 years of business. It was simultaneously de-listed from the NSE. At the time, its closure was described as "one of the greatest corporate disasters in independent Kenya history". A government-led rescue plan, however, was initiated and consequently five Uchumi outlets, all in Nairobi, were reopened on 15 July 2006 under interim management and a caretaker administrator. By January 2011, the retail chain had returned to profitability and applied to the Kenya Capital Markets Authority to re-list its shares on the NSE. Approval to re-list on the NSE was granted in May 2011 and trading in the shares of Uchumi resumed on 31 May 2011.

Ownership

, the shares of

of the retail chain are listed on the NSE, where they trade under the symbol "UCHM". The shares are also cross-listed on the

Rwanda Stock Exchange Rwanda Stock Exchange Limited (RSE) is a Rwandan Stock Exchange and was incorporated on 7 October 2005. The Stock Exchange was demutualized from the start as it was registered as a company limited by shares. The company was officially launched o ...

and the

Uganda Securities Exchange The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) is the principal stock exchange of Uganda. It was founded in June 1997. The USE is operated under the jurisdiction of Uganda's Capital Markets Authority, which in turn reports to the Bank of Uganda, Uganda's ...

. The company obtained regulatory approval to cross-list on the

Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) is a stock exchange located on Ohio Street, west of Kivukoni, south east of Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital and largest city in Tanzania. It was incorporated in September 1996 and trading started in ...

, effective 15 August 2014. The six largest shareholders in the company as of April 2015 were:

Branches

, the supermarket chain maintained Six outlets in Kenya:

List of Branches in Kenya

List of Uchumi branches in Kenya: # Langata Branch – Nairobi # Nairobi West Branch – Nairobi # Ngong Road Branch (Adams) – Nairobi *In 2015 Uchumi had 37 stores. 34 stores have closed down.

Closure of non-Kenyan stores

In June 2015, Uchumi fired its chief executive officer and chief financial officer at the time, for "misconduct and gross negligence". In July 2015, the company hired a Nairobi-based consulting firm to probe employee theft at the retail chain. In August 2015, a new CEO was hired. In October 2015, the store chain closed down all its stores in Uganda and Tanzania, citing unprofitability. In the process, 900 former employees were laid off in both countries, of whom 400 were in Uganda.

References

External links

*
Uchumi Stock Quote At Reuters.com

Uchumi Supermarkets shuts down four outlets
{{Authority control Supermarkets of Kenya Retail companies established in 1975 Companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange Companies listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange Kenyan companies established in 1975