Atul Shah is a businessman and entrepreneur in Kenya. He is the managing director and chief executive officer of the Nakumatt Holdings Limited, the parent company of

Nakumatt Nakumatt was a Kenyan supermarket chain. "Nakumatt" is an abbreviation for Nakuru Mattress. Overview , Nakumatt had 65 stores in the African Great Lakes countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. It employed over 5,500, and had gross an ...

Supermarkets, the largest, privately owned supermarket chain in the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...

area, with branches in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

and

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. , the retail chain maintained 50 stores in four countries, employed over 7,000 people and had annual sales in excess of US$650 million.

Background and education

He was born in Nandi Hills, Kenya in 1961. In 1965, when Atul was four years old, the family relocated to

Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitant ...

. Atul's father, Mangalal Shah, who had migrated to Kenya from India in 1947, opened a retail clothing store opposite the Nakuru open air market. Atul' s older brother, Vimal started working in the business in 1970. In 1975 Mangalal began exporting clothing to Uganda, often on credit. Towards the end of 1976, with debtors behind on their payments and creditors demanding for their money, Atul's father declared bankruptcy, with total debts of KSh1.2 million. The store was closed and Mangalal went to work for his brother Hasmukh Shah, who then owned a shop called Nakuru Mattresses. Following the closure of their father's business, Atul Shah and his brother, Vimal Shah opened a clothing store that they named Furmatts, which among other things, sold bed sheets which the brothers stitched at home. In 1978, due to booming business, supported by the 1970s coffee boom in East Africa, the two sons and their father managed to pay off the KSh1.2 million debt. They bought Nakuru Mattress from their uncle, who relocated to the United Kingdom.

Nakumatt supermarkets

Under new ownership, Nakuru Mattress and Furmatts began integrating their operations. From two stores Nakuru town in 1978, they diversified the list of items on offer. In addition to clothes and mattresses, they began selling saucepans, cooking pots, plastic basins and umbrellas, among other products. In 1984, they opened a store in

Eldoret Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...

, their first outside of Nakuru. In 1986 the retail chain expanded to

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, with a store on Ukwala Road. Over the next 30 years, the supermarket chain has grown into the largest retailer in Kenya, with over 36 stores, employing over 4,500 people. In 2008, the retailer opened its first outlet outside of Kenya, in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

, Rwanda. New branches in neighboring

followed in 2009. The first store in

came in 2011. The retail chain has plans to expand operations to

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

and

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

in the next two to three years.

Wealth

In 2013, Atul Shah is reported to have valued shareholders' equity in the retail chain at US$400 million (KSh34 billion at that time). The privately owned family business does not publish its financial statements. However, given that the family is the majority shareholder, Atul Shah is one of Kenya's wealthiest individuals.

References

External links

Nakumatt Holdings Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Atul Living people Kenyan people of Indian descent 1961 births Kenyan businesspeople Kenyan people of Gujarati descent

Background and education

Nakumatt supermarkets

Wealth

See also

References

External links