Tuskys Greenspan: Auctioneers have shut down Tuskys Supermarket branch at the Greenspan Mall. The outlet has been shut down over Sh. 30 million rent arrears.
This comes barely a week after auctioneers engaged Tuskys employees in running battles at the Juja branch.
Video: Tuskys employees in physical fight with auctioneers
Sannex Auctioneers stopped Tuskys from opening its doors and announced that it would be auctioning stocks next week to recover the rent. The goods will be sold on September 22 and include electronics, assorted clothes and handbags, freezers, trolleys, phones among other items. This is the latest indication that Tuskys is on a death, from which it will not rise. The retailer currently has outstanding supplier debts of over Sh. 6.2 billion.
“They owe the landlord over Sh. 30 million in rent arrears. The money has been pending for a long duration,” Sannex Auctioneers told a local daily.
Tuskys had last month announced that it had received a Sh. 2 billion capital injection from a Mauritius Fund. The name of the fund was however not revealed, which raised doubts that this claim might have been a planted to portray the troubled retailer in more positive light amidst a stream of negative news.
604 companies send employees home as Kenyan economy bleeds
“As previously communicated, we wish to reiterate our commitment to resolve the underlying working capital challenges quickly. This funding will provide the needed impetus to our overall capitalization journey,’’ Tuskys chairman Bernard Kahianyau said in a media statement.
In the same month, the supermarket was forced to pay Sh. 15 million out of Sh. 26 million rent arrears for United Mall outlet in Kisumu County after auctioneers raided the premises.
Tuskys is the third mainstream local retailer in Kenya to face near collapse. Uchumi and Nakumatt, which were two of Kenya’s most prominent retailers have already folded. Tuskys Greenspan.