Quickmart’s journey to becoming one of the largest supermarket chains in the country began with a family business in Nakuru before expanding into a national retail operation.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The late founder, John Kinuthia, and his wife, Zipporah Kinuthia, started out as farmers and kept livestock after getting married in 1976, before venturing into other businesses.

In an interview shared by Quickmart, Zipporah recounted how the couple ran a bar, butchery and lodging business before she proposed that they pursue a new venture by opening a supermarket.

“We started out as farmers, keeping a few cows while we were still young. When we eventually got tired of farming, we ventured into a bar business that also had a butchery and lodgings. At some point, however, I felt I wanted to do something different, so I told my husband, ‘I have a dream. Why don’t we open a supermarket?’” she said.

📌 What You Need to Know

She said that although John was initially hesitant, he eventually agreed, and the family started the retail venture from a small kiosk in Nakuru in 2006.

Their son, Duncan Kinuthia, joined the business after completing Form Four and spending some time studying accounting.

Duncan became increasingly involved in the operation before asking his father whether the business could be expanded to Nairobi, a move that followed in 2010.

John Kinuthia died in 2016, after which the family continued managing the supermarket business, with Duncan later serving as Managing Director.

Subsequently, Quickmart underwent a major ownership and structural change after Adenia Partners, a Mauritius-based private equity firm, acquired a stake in the business in 2019, with Peter Kang’iri serving as Group Chief Executive Officer.

The retailer was later combined with Tumaini Self-Service, which had also received investment from Adenia, and the two businesses were brought together under the Quickmart name in 2020.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke