Shoprite opened its 40th supermarket in Zambia at the Jacaranda Mall in Ndola last week.
The retailer introduced Zambia to world-class shopping with the opening of its first supermarket in 1995, on Cairo Road in Lusaka, and has expanded throughout the country over the last 25 years.
Today, Shoprite Zambia occupies 112 000 m² of trading space and it employs 7,800 people directly and another 1,550 indirectly (as merchandiser, butchery, cleaning and security staff). More than 50% of Shoprite Zambia’s employees are women and 80% of jobs are occupied by youths aged 25 to 35 years.
Shoprite sources 90% of all goods and services locally. The retailer has been procuring from local suppliers since it entered the Zambian market 25 years ago, starting with four suppliers and growing that number to the current 150.
Its commitment to low prices and consistently high-quality goods are the cornerstones of Shoprite’s success in Zambia, and the new Jacaranda Mall store will continue this legacy.
“The opening of our 40th Shoprite supermarket in Zambia is a very special occasion. We converted the store from an existing opposition store and opened it in the record time of just over one month. It normally takes about 5 months to open a new store. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we did not receive one truck from across the border and had to source our stock and services from our stores, local suppliers and agents within Zambia. A local team headed the entire project from start to finish. This is another proud record of using local skills,” says Charles Bota, General Manager of Shoprite Zambia.
“Over the last 25 years, we’ve worked hard to bring the people of Zambia competitive prices and the freshest produce in the most convenient locations. In that time we have built a proud reputation for supporting local. Shoprite Jacaranda Mall will continue to do so, and we are excited to welcome customers to our new supermarket,” Bota concluded.