as kn uchm industry retail trade founded 1975 1975 headquarters nairobi kenya key people catherine ngahu chairperson julius kipng etich chief executive officer 1 products supermarkets revenue net sales us 165.4 million kes 14.458 billion 2014 net income aftertax us 4.398 million kes 384 million 2014 2 total assets us 78.8 million kes 6.885 billion 2014 number of employees 4 500 2015 1 website uchumicorporate.co.ke uchumi supermarkets often referred to simply as uchumi is a kenyan supermarket chain . the word uchumi means economy in swahili . contents 1 overview 2 history 3 ownership 4 branches 4.1 branches in kenya 5 closure of non kenyan stores 6 see also 7 references 8 external links overview edit uchumi is headquartered in kenya . as of september 2014 update uchumi was one of a number of kenyan supermarket chains that serve the region including market leader nakumatt tuskys ukwala and naivas . in june 2014 the company s assets were about us 78.8 million kes 6.885 billion with shareholder equity of approximately us 38.4 million kes 3.357 billion . 3 history edit the company was founded in 1975 as a public limited liability company by three kenyan parastatal companies industrial and commercial development corporation kenya wine agencies limited kwal and kenya national trading corporation . the main objective at the time was to create outlets for the equitable distribution of commodities and to create retail outlets for kenyan manufactures . in 1976 uchumi s shareholders signed a management contract with standa spa an italian supermarket chain to train kenyans to run the new enterprise . the shares of the company stock were listed on the nairobi stock exchange nse in 1992 . uchumi closed down albeit temporarily and was placed in receivership during june 2006 after 30 years of business . 4 it was simultaneously de listed from the nse . at the time its closure was described as one of the greatest corporate disasters in independent kenya history . 5 a government led rescue plan however was initiated and consequently five uchumi outlets all in nairobi were reopened on 15 july 2006 under interim management and a caretaker administrator . 6 by january 2011 the retail chain had returned to profitability and applied to the kenya capital markets authority to re list its shares on the nse . 7 approval to re list on the nse was granted in may 2011 and trading in the shares of uchumi resumed on 31 may 2011 . 8 ownership edit as of may 2014 update the shares of stock of the retail chain are listed on the nse where they trade under the symbol uchm . the shares are also cross listed on the rwanda stock exchange 9 and the uganda securities exchange . 10 the company obtained regulatory approval to cross list on the dar es salaam stock exchange effective 15 august 2014 . 11 the six largest shareholders in the company as of april 2015 were 12 uchumi supermarkets stock ownership rank name of owner percentage ownership 1 jamii bora bank 15.8 2 kenya s ministry of trade 14.6 3 paul wanderi ndung u 5.4 4 kwal holdings 4.3 5 equity nominees ac 00111 4.1 6 karim jamal 2.4 7 others via the stock exchanges in eastern africa 53.4 total 100.00 branches edit as of november 2015 update the supermarket chain maintained 24 outlets in kenya 13 branches in kenya edit list of uchumi branches in kenya 14 city square hypermat aga khan walk nairobi langata hypermat langata road nairobi koinange branch monrovia street nairobi capital centre hypermat mombasa road nairobi ngong hypermat ngong road nairobi sarit hypermat sarit center westlands nairobi tajj mall hypermat embakasi nairobi 15 adams arcade branch ngong road nairobi buruburu branch buru buru housing estate nairobi jipange branch thika road nairobi jogoo road branch jogoo road nairobi nairobi west branch nairobi west shopping center nairobi ongata rongai branch ongata rongai nairobi westlands branch westlands nairobi eldoret branch muliro road downtown eldoret eldoret sugarland branch sugarland building oloo street eldoret embu branch cylet plaza building kubukubu road embu karatina branch karatina nyeri kericho branch kericho meru branch kenyatta road downtown shopping district meru kisii branch kisii 16 nakuru branch mosque road downtown nakuru 17 juja branch thika nairobi highway juja kisumu branch kisumu 18 limuru branch limuru in development 19 naivasha branch naivasha in development ukunda branch ukunda in development closure of non kenyan stores edit in june 2015 uchumi fired its chief executive officer and chief financial officer at the time for misconduct and gross negligence . 20 in july 2015 the company hired a nairobi based consulting firm to probe employee theft at the retail chain . 21 in august 2015 a new ceo was hired . 22 in october 2015 the store chain closed down all its stores in uganda and tanzania citing unprofitability . 23 in the process 900 former employees were laid off in both counties 24 25 of whom 400 were in uganda . 26 27 see also edit east african community economy of kenya list of supermarket chains in kenya list of supermarket chains in africa references edit a b gachiri john 26 august 2015 . uchumi poaches julius kipng etich from equity for top job . business daily africa . nairobi . retrieved 26 august 2015 . staff reporter 8 september 2014 . uchumi posts ksh384 million profit to move key uganda outlets . business daily africa nairobi . retrieved 8 september 2014 . uchumi september 2014 . audited 30 june 2014 financial statement pdf . uchumi supermarkets . retrieved 8 september 2014 . kenyan shop chain shuts its doors . bbc news . 2 june 2006 . retrieved 30 may 2014 . by nairobian writer . 9 february 2014 . the man who tamed kenya s greatest corporate disaster . the nairobian . retrieved 26 august 2015 . uchumi . the history of uchumi supermarkets . uchumi supermarkets . retrieved 30 may 2014 . wafula david 26 january 2011 . uchumi plays catch up in battle for shoppers . business daily africa . retrieved 30 may 2014 . wahome mwaniki 25 may 2011 . uchumi shares expected to trade at higher value . daily nation . retrieved 30 may 2014 . mugwe david 14 october 2013 . uchumi supermarkets becomes third to cross list on kigali bourse . the eastafrican . retrieved 30 may 2014 . mugwe david 13 november 2013 . uchumi shares start trading on kampala bourse . the eastafrican . retrieved 30 may 2014 . ciuri simon 5 august 2014 . uchumi gets approval to cross list on dar bourse . business daily africa nairobi . retrieved 5 august 2014 . juma victor 5 april 2015 . kidero exits uchumi top shareholders list . business daily africa nairobi . retrieved 6 april 2015 . mutegi mugambi 25 november 2015 . uchumi opens 24 hour outlet in nairobi . business daily africa . nairobi . list of uchumi branches in kenya . uchumi supermarkets . retrieved 30 may 2014 . wafula paul 4 april 2011 . uchumi revamps board in fight to regain top slot . business daily africa . retrieved 30 may 2014 . star reporter 21 november 2011 . uchumi boasts new outlets in uganda tanzania . retrieved 30 may 2014 ... 23 january 2011 . kenya uchumi back in nakuru after five year absence . daily nation on the web . retrieved 30 may 2014 . ciuri simon 16 february 2014 . uchumi kicks off expansion plans with 4 new branches . business daily africa nairobi . retrieved 30 may 2014 . ciuri simon 27 january 2015 . uchumi set to open limuru naivasha outlets . business daily africa nairobi . retrieved 27 january 2015 . business daily writer 15 june 2015 . uchumi sacks ciano cfo for gross misconduct negligence . business daily africa . nairobi . retrieved 14 october 2015 . ciuri simon 28 july 2015 . ailing uchumi hires hr firm to probe theft by employees . business daily africa . nairobi . retrieved 14 october 2015 . david evans humphrey malalo and edmund blair 25 august 2015 . kenya s uchumi supermarkets picks new ceo after predecessor sacked . nairobi reuters.com . retrieved 14 october 2015 . ngugi brian 14 october 2015 . uchumi supermarkets shuts down regional operations . daily nation . nairobi . retrieved 14 october 2015 . ciuri simon 14 october 2015 . uchumi sacks 900 uganda tanzania staff . business daily africa . nairobi . retrieved 14 october 2015 . mutegi mugambi 15 october 2015 . uchumi reveals ksh2 .4 bn drain by closed outlets . business daily africa . nairobi . retrieved 15 october 2015 . semakula othman 14 october 2015 . 400 ugandans lose jobs as uchumi exits uganda . daily monitor . kampala . retrieved 14 october 2014 . mark keith muhumuza and othman semakula 20 october 2015 . why uchumi painfully closed uganda tanzania operations . daily monitor . kampala . retrieved 20 october 2015 . external links edit official website uchumi stock quote at reuters.com uchumi resumes trading at the nairobi stock exchange uchumi appoints jamii bora chief to its board uchumi supermarkets shuts down four outlets retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title uchumi supermarkets & oldid 732925977 categories supermarkets of kenyacompanies established in 19751975 establishments in kenyacompanies listed on the nairobi stock exchangecompanies listed on the uganda securities exchangehidden categories engvarb from may 2014use dmy dates from may 2013pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersarticles containing swahili language textarticles containing potentially dated statements from september 2014all articles containing potentially dated statementsarticles containing potentially dated statements from may 2014articles containing potentially dated statements from november 2015official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links 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