The Village Market is a large

shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scho ...

, recreation and

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

complex in the

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

n capital,

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 h ...

. It accommodates over 150 stores outlets covering of retail space, square feet of

office space ''Office Space'' is a 1999 American black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the worklife of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron Livingston, Jennifer ...

, in addition to recreation and entertainment facilities. The Village Market is located in the

Gigiri Gigiri is a residential estate in Nairobi. It is home to Kenya's large expatriate community. It is one of the largest expat communities in Africa. Gigiri hosts: *United Nations Office at Nairobi making Nairobi the only African city to host several ...

residential area which is about from Nairobi city center on Limuru Road. The complex is designed to resemble an open-air African market, including

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

History

In 1992, two Kenyan brothers, Hamed and Mehraz Ehsani had the idea of constructing a shopping and recreation mall within

. Their objective was to provide a shopping and recreation experience for Gigiri's residents which include

diplomats A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internatio ...

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

and

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

living and/or working within the Nairobi's Diplomatic District and its immediate environs. Construction began in April 1992 with a proposed 10 shops. Three years later they opened The Village Market's gates to the public. Today the complex covers over of leasing space; three levels high, with more than 150 outlets, and was the first mall to introduce a food court to Kenya. The Village Market offers a variety of recreational facilities, that included a swimming and water slides area, bowling and mini-golf facility. In early 2014 these recreational areas were closed down to allow for expansion of the Mall. The current expansion will bring in over 70 new retail and service spaces and is expected to be complete in full by November 2016 to include a new three star business hotel with 215 rooms, a variety of conference areas and a pool. The Village Market adjoins the Tribe Hotel, a 5 star

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

with 142 guest rooms and suites.

Inside the Village Market

The Village Market has outlets offering products and services of different categories. There are over 150 retail shops selling local and designer wear, fashion,

accessories Accessory may refer to: * Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal In anatomy * Accessory bone * Accessory muscle * Accessory nucleus, in anatomy, a cranial nerve nucleus * Accessory nerve In arts and entertainment * Accessory ...

and footwear items falling within the lifestyle and speciality categories. Their anchor tenant was

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 a ...

supermarket which was closed and will be soon replaced by A Majid Al Futtaim's

Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...

Supermarket. The Village Market has an outdoor Food Court that offers a wide range of cuisines including traditional African fare. Within the Complex there are various other restaurants to choose from and these are open daily serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The shopping mall also has on offer a variety of beauty, hair and salon services including the first M.A.C. store in Kenya, Refinery Grooming which is Nairobi's first new era Male Grooming Company that offers barbershop treatments for all hair types. A health and fitness center is also part of the Complex and offers yoga, barre and dance classes. The Village Market has handicap accessible restrooms, a Baby Room for

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

mothers and a

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

area reserved for visitors and shoppers. The mall is accessible through 5 gates with 1225 on-site parking spaces including reserved handicap parking. There are more than five Customer Service desks which are located within the complex for shoppers,

tenants A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a ...

and visitors seeking any information. The complex is open daily through the week and weekend as well as holidays from 7am to 11pm.

Arts and crafts

There are several outlets that specialize in African artifacts and other Kenyan crafts. Moreover, every Friday, the shopping center hosts the Maasai Market – a cultural bazaar that brings together around 400 artisans and craftsmen who specialize in an array of

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...

. The African pieces range from soapstone, fibers,

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

en and

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and batiks and paintings.

Recreation and entertainment

The mall used to have a Nu Metro Cinema hall, water slides, a mini

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

course and bowling alleys, also known as Super Bowl. Village Market's recreation zones also hosted various supervised play areas for children. In 2019, the Village Market reopened their newly refurbished bowling alley The Village Bowl which is a modern 11 lane Brunswick facility. There is also a kid's recreational facility called Under The Sea, trampoline sessions at Ozone Trampoline Park and much more. During weekends, and holidays, The Village Market invites musicians, violinists, pianists and regular professional music bands for entertainment.

Activities and events

The Village Market hosts many activities annually including weekly

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhi ...

s in the mall's exhibition halls. Ladies Day and Car Boot sale are among the activities and events held at the complex.

Regular promotions

The Village Market, frequently runs promotions to reward shoppers and visitors all through the year. The Bonus Card program is one of these promotions which is supposed to reward loyal shoppers with redeemable points.

Services

The Village Market provides other vital services. From health care to

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

, the mall has 5

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

s, and ATMs to boot. The complex also has an investment firm, a

Forex The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all as ...

bureau, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

and a DHL center. There are also several tours and travel companies that make tour arrangements to various destinations. Also to be found in the complex is a driving school, a tyre center as well as a car dealership. The Village Market is also has a

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

and dental

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

alongside a pharmacy and a

dry cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Dry cleaning still involves liquid, but clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent. Tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), known i ...

service.

Tribe – the Village Market hotel

Tribe is the Village Market hotel.
/ref> Tribe is situated adjacent to the shopping center with 142 guestrooms and suites.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Village Market Shopping malls established in 1995 Shopping malls in Nairobi