Multinational grocery retailer, Choppies Enterprise Limited, is set to open its doors in Namibia in the next two months, with at least three retail shops earmarked for Ongwediva, Omuthiya and Windhoek in the short term, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ramachandran Ottapathu, said this week.
In an exclusive interview with the Windhoek Observer on Tuesday, Ottapathu said the Johannesburg Stock Exchange- listed retailer had already fully complied with all regulatory obligations while staff recruitment was expected to start at the end of July.
The Botswana headquartered Choppies will partner with an undisclosed Namibian investor who will hold at least a 10 percent stake in the local venture.
The grocery retailer currently operates in six sub-Saharan African countries including Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
“We have fully complied and registered our company here in Namibia, and we will be opening our first store towards the end of August or early September this year,” Ottapathu said.
“The people we will recruit here will be trained in Botswana and these will consist of cashiers and service departments like bakery, butchery and fruit and vegetable employees.
“This process will only start after the completion of the recruitment process, which will start at the end of July. It will be a fully-fledged retail shop with a bakery, butchery, and fruit and vegetables ‑ all the groceries that people use on a daily basis.
Ottapathu said Choppies plans to open at least 13 shops in Namibia over a period of three years in an investment that will cost around N$150 million.
“We plan to have at least 13 stores countrywide over a period of between 18 to 24 months and some smaller towns will maybe require smaller shops that will be cheaper, so the average shop will cost between N$6 and N$11 million. We will be targeting most of the Northern towns and regions.
“We will start with Ongwediva and Omuthiya, and Windhoek will only be next year,” he said.
Asked what had attracted the retailer to Namibia, Ottapathu said Namibia was one of the most stable economies in the sub-Saharan region and there were a lot of similarities between the local market and Botswana.
“Trade is also evenly split just like in Botswana between the northern parts of the country and the southern part, plus there is an added advantage here of the coastal areas.
“Most of the products found in our shops are found here in Namibia and whatever is produced here, we will be buy here and what is not available we will bring it in from South Africa.”
Without giving further details, Ottapathu said Choppies operates a business model that will be different from that used by traditional retailers currently operating in the country.
“Our business model is very different from what you see in the local retail shops and we will try to maintain that standard going forward and make shopping with Choppies a very memorable experience.
“When we open people will realise it is a completely different model altogether. We interact with the communities, the business community in a slightly different way from the traditional approach,” Ottapathu said.