With many middle-income Kenyans’ appetite for designer household furniture growing, some retailers have introduced credit facilities to allow them to acquire items in installments of as little as Sh300 a month.

For instance, household accessories and furniture sellers Victoria Courts have introduced credit facilitates to cater for the growing number of people who want to buy their high-end products but cannot pay for them at a go. In partnership with three financial institutions — Housing Finance of Kenya, Equity bank and Letshego Kenya Limited (formerly Micro Africa Ltd) — Victoria Courts allows its clients to take an item and pay for it within three years.

The store stocks premium furniture from dealers like the renowned French firm, Gautier. Mr Teddy Kilonzi, the store’s marketing manager based at their Westlands branch, said that many clients who would have normally avoid the store because of its prohibitive prices now throng the shop to buy furniture.

“Our shop mainly accommodates Class A people, the kind of people who would not mind spending Sh1 million at a go, but we can offer the same pieces of furniture to a person who can only pay Sh5,000 a month for it through this credit facility,” he says.

Mr Kilonzi says that any item  that costs  Sh3,000 and above can be bought on credit, meaning a client can pay as little as Sh200 a month.

While the facility has been in available for two years on a pilot basis, it was revealed to the public only early this year, and the response has been remarkable. Mr Kilonzi says that, while he has not a counted the number of clients to get exact figures, the stores’ marketing department has reported an upsurge in sales, particularly of seats.

Mr Kilonzi has observed a trend that might explain the increased interest in their products. “I have seen people come to buy chair,  coffee table,  bed and wall hanging at  go, then calculate the required instalment for each, so that they they  pay Sh5,000 monthly installments for the lot. For instance, the monthly instalment for a table  might be Sh245, that for a bed Sh3,000, and the one for a chair Sh1,800, which enables them to get all the pieces at once,” he explained.

The shops stocks very environmentally friendly products made of recycled material, perhaps an indication  that consumers want to conserve the environment.

The procedure for applying for the credit facility is simple. Salaried customers provide a copy of identification, three months’ certified bank statements and three current payslips.

They are also required to produce an introduction letter from the employer and a recent passport-size photo.

In addition to the documents listed above, Equity bank requires a copy of the utility bill from  salaried people while Letshego requires two guarantors, whose identification the customer must provide.

Self-employed clients provide all the aforementioned documents, with additional information on business registration or permit, the enterprise’s history, as well as a book of accounts.

Nakumatt Supermarket also has a similar programme but had not responded to our requests by the time we went to press.