In the next four days, Retail Supermarket Nigeria (RSN) Limited operating under the brand name, Shoprite , will be closing shop at Novare Wuse Central Mall, Abuja, according a recent announcement by its management. This action, in the opinion of retail market watchers in Nigeria, holds implications for both Novare Real Estate Nigeria Limited-owners of the mall – and the retail business in Nigeria which, like other sectors of the country’s economy, has been gasping for breath over bad economic conditions. Folakemi Fadahunsi, RSN’s chief executive officer, explained in statement obtained by BusinessDay that the decision to close the shop on Sunday, June 30, 2024 was made after an evaluation of the store’s financial situation and the current business climate in Nigeria.
“We believe this is the best course of action for our organisation’s long-term growth,” Fadahunsi noted. Read also: Shoprite to shut down Abuja mall over poor financial performance For Novare, this could not have come as cheering news, more so as the company is still smarting from a controversy over the purported sale of its four retail facilities in Nigeria which hit the Nigerian retail market like thunderbolt in the third quarter of 2023. Novare was one of the few institutional investors that took the Nigerian retail market by storm, developing large-size Grade A retail properties in major cities of Nigeria.
The firm contributed significantly to what was, arguably, a revolution in that segment of .