While multinational grocery chains have historically struggled to scale across West Africa, Nigeria’s largest indigenous grocery retailer, Sundry Markets Limited, is actively charting a multi-decade expansion campaign.
Speaking in Port Harcourt during a gala night to mark the company’s 10th anniversary, Chief Executive Officer Ebele Enunwa revealed that the firm—frequently recognized under its retail brand name, Market Square—plans to aggressively scale its operations to establish a presence in every corner of the country over the next two decades.
Navigating Macroeconomic Turbulence
The retail giant’s milestone comes on the heels of major structural headwinds within the domestic market. Enunwa candidly reviewed the severe economic challenges the business survived over its first decade, including the operational paralysis of the COVID-19 pandemic and radical currency fluctuations that saw the Naira move from around ₦200 to over ₦1,000 against the United States dollar.
However, the CEO noted a shift in the current macroeconomic climate. While soaring inflation severely restricted consumer purchasing power and hit household disposable incomes hard over the past few years, inflationary trends have finally begun to plateau (flattening into a parallel trend lines). Backed by a stabilizing and strengthening local currency, the retail sector is beginning to find a steadier footing.
The Scale Matrix: From Yenagoa to National Dominance
The corporate evolution of Sundry Markets highlights a successful blueprint for regional-first retail expansion in Nigeria.
Engr. Charles Odita, Chairman of the Board of Directors, recalled that the company’s journey began in 2015 with a single, modest storefront in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Overcoming early local infrastructure challenges, including power supply issues that struggled to sustain modern refrigeration and point-of-sale systems, the firm adapted its logistics and supply chain strategies to scale.
Today, the group’s retail infrastructure has expanded into an empire consisting of:
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Footprint: Over 40 standard supermarkets spread across 19 cities and 15 states.
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Capacity: More than 50,000 square meters of modern retail floor space.
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Economic Impact: Over 4,000 direct employees serving more than 2 million customers monthly.
The Next Two Decades of Domestic Retail
This localized operational expertise recently earned the firm recognition from the Financial Times as one of the fastest-growing companies in Africa. By successfully replacing foreign-backed retail giants that have exited the country, Sundry Markets is positioning itself to lead the formalization of Nigeria’s fragmented consumer markets.
The company’s long-term strategy focuses on integrating renewable energy across its existing stores, establishing direct-farm sourcing networks to lower consumer grocery prices, and expanding heavily into underserved tier-2 and tier-3 cities to bring modern retail convenience to every household in Nigeria.
