A Section of Kenyans are today jobless after their only source of income closed down. For sometime now a number of businesses within the country have ceased operations with retail store Nakumatt leading the pack.
Nakumatt, once regarded as Kenya’s top retail store will seemingly not be the only one going down the drain.
Ebrahim Supermarket, one of Kenya’s oldest reatilers has also closed down its Moi Avenue branch in a move that ends its 75-year run in Nairobi.
The retailer sold all of its stock on discounted prices throughout last week in a massive clear-out that ended on Saturday, marking its last day of operations.
The building that housed the retailer on Moi Avenue will now be converted into stalls and shops with the owner seeking businesses to buy space through posters.
At least 30 workers lost their jobs in the move that has closed the chapter on one of the city’s most iconic supermarkets established in Kenya’s pre-independent era.
A worker said employees were not privy to the goings-on and expressed surprise at the closure that now leaves them jobless.
“Hatujui ni nini anataka mara ni stalls na maduka,” (We do not know what exactly is happening because we are setting up shops and stalls now), said the worker.
Ebrahim was established in 1944 as a supermarket with electronics and computer distribution unit next to Sarova Stanley Hotel on Kenyatta Avenue.
The owner also established an outlet on Kimathi Street that sells electronics.
The supermarket has in the past closed other outlets in Kisumu, Nakuru and Mombasa leaving only the stores in Nairobi.