China Square has opened a Kes 500 million outlet at Mega City Mall in the heart of Kisumu City to tap into the western Kenya market.
The grand opening, which saw long lines of excited shoppers, marked a significant milestone for the popular retail chain as it expands its footprint across Kenya.
Speaking during the launch, China Square CEO Lei Cheng said the outlet will offer a wide variety of products at competitive prices, from home goods to electronics, fashion, and more.
He said the decision to move to Kisumu, the third-largest city in Kenya, was informed by the huge number of requests from customers who travelled all the way to Nairobi to purchase goods from the retailer.
“We’ve been serving Nairobi for some time now. Requests from Kisumu have been overwhelming and I am happy that today we have opened this shop so that our customers can enjoy convenient shopping.”
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He said the new store's wide variety of products was set to give it a competitive advantage over other retailers in the region.
“We have one of the largest varieties of products in the region. Here we have so many products that you cannot find in any other store,” he said.
Further. Leng said the Kisumu outlet would provide competitive pricing and create local jobs, contributing to the area’s economic growth.
He added that the outlet was receiving goods from local jua kali artisans and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s), a move that was intended to stimulate local manufacturing.
“Some of them have been to our shops in Nairobi where they have taken samples of some of the products, especially plastics which they copy and manufacture and we buy from them,” he said.
As a result, he added, China Square, which at the start was importing 90% of its products, is now importing 60%, with 40% of the products at the outlets sourced locally.
