Bruneian multichannel pet supplies retailer Nimanja opened three new outlets towards the end of 2020, closing the year with a total of 12 stores across two countries. The company, which started in 2016 as an online store but has seen rapid expansion of its brick-and-mortar footprint in recent years, opened in two new locations in the sultanate, in the district of Tutong and in Mentiri in the district of Brunei-Muara. The most recent openings, which are in addition to the two shops that started operating in Sungai Tilong and Tanjong Bunut in the early part of 2020, increase the number of Nimanja outlets in Brunei to eight.
Nimanja also made a foray into Sibu, a town of 162 000 people in the state of Sarawak, east Malaysia, in the third quarter of 2020. Prior to opening in Sibu, Nimanja's presence in the neighbouring country was concentrated in Miri, a city of 230 000 people that borders Brunei, where the company currently has three branches.
"Sibu is performing exceptionally well. It's one of our top three branches. We financed the shop through our Miri accounts, and then sent workers back and forth between Miri and Sibu for training for two months," Anderson Lim, Nimanja founder.
This year, Nimanja's store expansion strategy will be relatively muted. Anderson Lim said that in Brunei, the company is looking to open just three more stores either this year or the next. The Nimanja executive also said that expansion in east Malaysia has been hampered by the border closure.
Nimanja is part of Brunei's PetLink Group, the country's oldest and biggest pet supplies outfit. The group has cornered 50 per cent of the Bruneian pet market.
