A Guide to Shopping in Embakasi: Malls and Supermarkets

Where to shop in Embakasi

Embakasi is not a single neighbourhood. It is a sprawling part of Nairobi that runs from Donholm and Umoja through Pipeline, Fedha and Nyayo Estate to Imara Daima and Utawala, and its retail is spread just as widely. This guide covers three malls (Southfield, Greenspan and Imaara) and the Quickmart and Naivas branches that serve neighbourhoods across the area.

The retail picture has changed in recent years. Nakumatt’s Embakasi branch closed as the chain wound down, Tuskys lost its Greenspan Mall space following a rent dispute, Choppies left the Kenyan market, and Taj Mall was demolished. Carrefour and Naivas have since opened stores at Southfield and Greenspan respectively, among other locations. Details below come from the sources listed at the end and can change, so confirm a store’s status before making a special trip.

Southfield Mall

Location: Airport North Road, Embakasi

Southfield is a four-storey mall on a three-acre site, with about 165,000 square feet of lettable space according to the mall’s website. The website is not consistent on its other figures: one page lists 269,000 square feet of built-up area and 350 parking bays (basement and rooftop), while the design description gives 360,000 square feet and 400 bays across the basement, ground and second floors. Treat these as the mall’s stated figures rather than a guarantee of what is open or available today.

The anchor is Carrefour, which opened here in August 2021 in space previously occupied by Choppies. The mall’s website lists other tenants including Java House, KFC, The Nairobi Hospital, Absa Bank, Smart Gyms, Miniso, Bata, Iris Dental Clinic and Playzone, and describes a 25,000 square foot conference and exhibition space on the third floor.

Practical for: grocery shopping combined with banking, healthcare or other services in one visit.

What to know: the tenant list leans towards everyday services, alongside restaurants and a children’s play area. Occupancy varies by unit, so confirm that a specific tenant is trading before making a special trip.

Carrefour Southfield

Carrefour’s Southfield store is on the mall’s ground floor. According to Carrefour’s opening statement, reported by The Star, it opened in August 2021 as the chain’s 12th outlet in Nairobi and 16th in Kenya. Carrefour is operated in Kenya by Majid Al Futtaim. The company said the store would serve shoppers from Imara Daima, Nyayo Estate, Syokimau and the wider Embakasi area. It opened as a grocery-led store with a full fresh food range, and the company said it would grow into a full hypermarket with a non-food range, occupying about 3,000 square metres across two floors, by the end of 2021. Check what the store currently stocks if you are travelling for non-food items.

The site has a retail history. Choppies opened a store at Southfield in early 2018, which Business Today reported as its largest Kenyan outlet at roughly 44,000 square feet. Choppies later exited the Kenyan market, and Carrefour took over the space.

Greenspan Mall

Location: Savannah Dakar Road, Donholm, Embakasi East

Greenspan opened in 2012. According to its owner, ILAM Fahari I-REIT, the mall sits on about 9.5 acres with about 1,000 parking spaces. Older REIT reports give lettable space of about 16,105 square metres, while a 2026 Business Daily report citing the REIT manager gives about 14,350 square metres.

Naivas has been the anchor tenant since February 2022 and signed a lease reported to run to 2031 (Business Daily). Naivas had announced a 57,000 square foot store on the ground floor. The space was previously occupied by Tuskys, which lost its Greenspan Mall space following a rent dispute with the landlord; Business Daily reported that its goods were auctioned over unpaid rent. China Square is a sub-anchor, and the REIT manager lists banks, healthcare providers, a cinema, salons and fast food outlets among the tenants.

ILAM Fahari I-REIT, managed by ICEA Lion Asset Management, acquired Greenspan in 2015 for about KSh 2.09 billion, according to the REIT’s own reporting, and Business Daily has described the mall as the REIT’s key asset. Third-party articles describe the ownership in varying ways, so the REIT’s reports are the primary source. Occupancy rose from 86 percent to 93 percent in 2025, and the REIT manager has said it plans to develop residential units on the mall’s excess land, with groundbreaking expected in 2026 subject to approvals.

Practical for: shoppers in Donholm, Umoja and Buruburu who want a large supermarket and banking in one trip.

Imaara Mall

Location: Mombasa Road, at the entrance to Imara Daima

The Imaara Shopping Mall sits at the intersection of Mombasa Road and the entrance to Imara Daima estate, which makes it easy to reach from the Mombasa Road corridor and not far from JKIA. It was developed by Tuffsteel Limited. Naivas opened a store of more than 34,000 square feet there in early 2022, timed with the mall’s official launch, and described it at the time as its third-largest store by size.

Tenants have included KCB, Stanbic Bank, DTB, TenderCare hospital, Pharmaplus, Optica and Text Book Centre. Restaurants have included CJ’s, Artcaffé, Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn and Big Knife, according to the restaurants’ own posts and visitor reviews.

Practical for: a meal plus a supermarket trip on the Mombasa Road corridor, and for residents of Imara Daima and nearby estates.

Taj Mall no longer exists

Taj Mall, also known as Airgate Centre, opened in August 2011 at the junction of Outering Road and Airport North Road. It was demolished in September 2018 amid enforcement action over alleged encroachment on road-reserve and pipeline wayleave land. A government multi-sectoral committee had issued a notice in August 2018 alleging encroachment on the road reserve, and The Standard reported that demolition began on 15 September 2018. Kenya Pipeline Company said the building sat on its pipeline lines, and the owner had publicly disputed the demolition order.

In March 2025, KPC said that trader stalls at the former site had encroached on the pipeline wayleave and were demolished.

Older directories and map listings may still refer to Taj Mall, so do not plan a trip to it.

Quickmart in Embakasi

Quickmart was founded in Nakuru in 2006 and merged with Tumaini Self Service in 2019. Business Daily has described it as Naivas’s closest rival among Kenyan supermarket chains. Three branches serve the Embakasi area directly, with hours as listed on Quickmart’s corporate website:

• Quickmart Embakasi: listed as open 24 hours. Quickmart’s branch listings place it on the road to Utawala Academy.
• Quickmart Fedha: listed as open 7:00 AM to 9:30 PM. It is on Fedha Road.
• Quickmart Donholm: listed as open 24 hours. It is on Outering Road.

Quickmart’s branch listings also include other Eastlands branches on Outering Road, in Pipeline and along the Eastern Bypass. Hours change, and some third-party directories show different hours, so check Quickmart’s branch network page before travelling late at night.

Naivas in Embakasi

Naivas has several stores in and around Embakasi:

• Naivas Embakasi (Nyayo): on Road B off Airport North Road, opposite Nairobi Bottlers. It opened in December 2021, and Naivas described it as its 7th outlet in the greater Eastlands region. It was relaunched in August 2022 as an expanded store, with trading space reported to have grown from 27,000 to 43,000 square feet. Naivas’s branch page lists sections including electronics, clothing, a liquor store and a food court.
• Naivas Express Embakasi: a smaller format on Airport North Road, opened in July 2021.
• Naivas Greenspan: the anchor store described above.
• Naivas Imaara: the 34,000 square foot store at Imaara Mall.

What happened to Tuskys, Nakumatt and Choppies

Three chains that once traded in or near Embakasi no longer operate at the locations covered in this guide.

• Nakumatt: the chain entered voluntary supervision in early 2018 and shrank from 60 branches to six by September 2018. Embakasi was among the last six, according to Business Daily, and the Nakumatt brand was reported to be winding down by the end of 2019.
• Tuskys: lost its Greenspan Mall space following a rent dispute with the landlord, after which Naivas became the mall’s anchor tenant.
• Choppies: exited the Kenyan market, and Carrefour took over its space at Southfield.

References to these stores in older directories may be out of date.

How to choose

Shopping centre	Practical for	Anchor	Parking
Southfield Mall	Groceries plus banking and healthcare	Carrefour	350 to 400 bays (figures differ on mall’s website)
Greenspan Mall	Donholm and Umoja errands, banking	Naivas	About 1,000 spaces (owner’s figure)
Imaara Mall	Dining, Mombasa Road access	Naivas	On-site
Quickmart Embakasi and Donholm	Everyday groceries, listed as 24 hours	Quickmart	Confirm locally
Quickmart Fedha	Fedha-area groceries, 7:00 AM to 9:30 PM	Quickmart	Confirm locally
Naivas Nyayo	Everyday and household shopping near Nyayo	Naivas	On-site

The bottom line

Embakasi’s retail is spread across several centres and neighbourhood branches rather than a single destination. Southfield, anchored by Carrefour, pairs a supermarket with banking and healthcare tenants. Greenspan, anchored by Naivas, is a practical option for shoppers in Donholm and Umoja. Imaara has a large Naivas and a range of restaurants and is easy to reach from Mombasa Road. Quickmart and Naivas both run neighbourhood branches, and Quickmart lists its Embakasi and Donholm branches as open 24 hours, which may suit shift workers or late-night shopping.

Retail in Embakasi is changing, with tenants, anchors and hours shifting from year to year. Confirm a store’s status and opening hours directly before making a special trip.

Sources

• Quickmart branch hours: Quickmart corporate website and branch network page
• Southfield Mall: Southfield Mall website
• Carrefour Southfield: The Star, August 2021 and Capital FM, August 2021
• Choppies at Southfield: Business Today, January 2018
• Greenspan Mall: ILAM Fahari I-REIT semi-annual report, Business Daily, April 2026, Business Daily on the Naivas lease, Business Daily, May 2021 and Pesa Wall on 2025 occupancy
• Imaara Mall: Business Quest, 2022 and African Torch
• Naivas Embakasi: Naivas branch page, Kenya Top Stories, August 2022 and Success Afrika, December 2021
• Taj Mall: The Standard, September 2018, Daily Nation and The Standard, March 2025
• Nakumatt: Business Daily and Daily Nation