Game Stores to wind up operations in Uganda

Another South African giant shopping store is set to close shop in Uganda.

Game Stores that is operated by retail giant Massmart becomes the second supermarket that has recently announced plans to wind up its operations in Uganda, to concentrate in South Africa.

Last month, Shoprite announced that it reviewed its long-term options across Africa over the past year as currency devaluations, lower commodity prices and high inflation hit household incomes and weighed on earnings. 

Massmart on Friday announced that it had put up 14 Game stores in East and West Africa for sale, citing a need to focus on its “core strengths” as the group’s losses narrowed during the half-year ended June 2021.

“We’ve reached the conclusion that the performance and complexity in running 14 stores in five markets in the East and West Africa is something that we needed to address,” said Massmart chief executive officer Mitchell Slape during the group’s virtual financial results presentation late last week.

Slape said the chain had begun a formal sales process to divest in five Game Stores in Nigeria, four in Ghana, three in Kenya, one in Uganda and another in Tanzania.

Slape said the company was in advanced discussions with potential purchasers to take over its Game stores in Kenya, adding that the country alongside other regional markets remain a difficult business environment.

Uganda currently has local supermarkets like Capital Shoppers, Quality Supermarket and Mega Standard Supermarket that can fill the void.