South African-owned eatery, Big Square has opened its 13th branch at Shell Service Station in Mountain View along Waiyaki Way.
“The new restaurant outlet will provide both motorists and shoppers the opportunity to experience their array of delicious and authentic home-made meals in a relaxed environment in the Mountain View area,” said Big Square in a statement.
“An increasingly globalised environment and Kenya’s growing population and economy is fuelling demand for new retail formats that meet consumers preferences and aspirations,”Sebastian McKinlay, the firm’s Managing Director said during the launch of the KSh 45 million outlet.
The fast-food eatery prides itself as a casual dining restaurant serving locally sourced, ‘SQUAREMADE burgers, fried chicken, BBQ ribs, beer, wine, delicious desserts, and hand-spun shakes’.
The excitement today is just 🔥🔥🔥. #BigSquareMountainView pic.twitter.com/rBdNKEkvA7
— Big Square Kenya (@BigSquareKE) July 5, 2019
In March 2018, Uqalo, a South-African based private equity fund invested KSh404 million to acquire Big Square as one way to expand its footprint from the then nine stores to 30 over the next four years.
Big Square has branches in Westlands, Karen, Lavington, Gigiri, Kilimani, Thika Road, Lang’ata, Ngong Road and Mombasa Road.
Uqalo also has a 5% equity stake in Twiga Foods.
According to Cytonn Investments, the Mountain View area presents a viable opportunity for the business as it hosts high to middle-income earners with high purchasing power, which will sustain demand from the restaurant’s target market.
Other outlets that are expanding their footprints include:
Burger King, who opened their fifth branch in Lavington. It opened its first outlet in November 2016 at The Hub (Karen) under a franchise agreement with NAS Airport Services, a subsidiary of France-based catering firm Servair.
US fast-food chain operator KFC, plans to open more outlets in East Africa through a joint venture with oil marketer Vivo Energy in a deal with the owners of Kuku Foods East Africa Holdings.
Artcaffé Group, a lifestyle and a social hub restaurant, announced plans to boost its presence in Kenya with more outlets in 2019 when they opened their 27th and 28th locations at Capital Center Mall along Mombasa road.
“The continued expansion of Big Square and other restaurants such as Java and KFC in Nairobi will result in increased uptake of retail real estate developments thus improving the overall performance of the sector,” observes Cytonn Investments.
