Clarks partners Nakumatt to boost growth

By Yvonne Kawira

British high street brand, Clarks, is capitalizing Nakumatt Holdings presence in East Africa to tap into the regional shoe market.

The two firms yesterday unveiled Clarks’ fourth outlet store at the Galleria Mall, and have plans to open two more outlets in the coming month.

“We have plans to open another store at the Village Market and another at Nakumatt Mega in the next one month,” said the Clark International president for Middle East and Africa, Mr. Irfan Porbanderwalla during the unveiling of the store at Galleria.

The company, mostly targeting the middle to high income spenders opened its first outlet Concept store at Thika Road Mall last year and another at Junction Mall.

“Since then, we have sold up to 18,897 pairs of shoes,” says Nakumatt Holdings footwear product manager Mr. Robert Nyamweya adding that the strongest marketing tool has been word of mouth.

Ankle Boots

The brand is now targeting to sell over one million pairs of shoes every year in Kenya in the next three years.

Currently, Nakumatt has its operations in Uganda where it has opened up eight branches, four in Tanzania and two in Rwanda, alongside its 36 stores in Kenya. Clarks has presence in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt and South Africa. It also has plans to set up shop in Ghana.