KENYA – South African construction and building materials retailer, Builders, is set to open its first store in Nairobi as it expands into the East African region.
The store, which will be opened at the Waterfront Karen, will bring the total number of Builders stores beyond South Africa to nine.
Kenya, East Africa’s commercial hub, will join Botswana, Mozambique, and Zambia as regions with the firm’s outlets outside the retailer’s stronghold, with management affirming intentions to entrench its presence on the continent.
“As with each venture into a new territory, Builders’ investment of KSh500 million (US$4.62m) represents a commitment to bolster the local economy,” the firm said in a statement.
Covering almost 10 000 square metres of trading, dispatch space and garden centre, the Nairobi store will bring a wide range of high-quality home improvement and building materials products and services, it said.
The retail chain has so far created employment opportunities for around 400 individuals during the construction phase and around 145 local staff once the store is trading.
“Whether you’re a DIY (do-it-yourself) enthusiast, a homeowner, a small business or large contractor, Kenyans will soon experience the power to get it done,” management said.
The product range will cover among others, building materials and home improvement requirements for flooring, paint, sanware, kitchens, lighting, electrical and appliances.
A host of services such as paint tinting and mixing, glass cutting, kitchen design, gardening products, pool water analysis and others will be available trade credit.
It is South Africa’s largest home improvement and building materials specialist with 96 stores within the country.
Builders move to expand to expand to Kenya comes at a time when Retail companies are facing pressure from a constrained economy especially with the escalating covid-19 pandemic.
Massbuild operates four complementary brands: Builders Warehouse, Builders Superstore, Builders Trade Depot and Builders Express.
Early this month Massbuild selected SAP Marketing Cloud to enable its marketing team of five users to reach and engage up to 224,000 customers per day via measurable, trackable email campaigns.
Consequently, stated Massbuild, a strong business case for the project was developed upfront to ensure maximum return on investment. Buy-in was secured from key stakeholders, and a project sponsor drove the process from an executive management team to all levels of the organisation.
“We wanted to improve the way we manage our customer communication and become more efficient, professional and reliable in our marketing engagements,” said Massbuild spokesperson.
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