Bambis supermarket – The age defying supermarket – has been sold to Aschalew Belay, a local entrepreneur and owner of Belay Ab Car Assembly and the local Golden Tulip chain hotel in the capital.
Charalambos N Tsimas (AKA Bambis), a Greek national opened the supermarket 68 years ago and has had a lingering issues with the Ethiopian Food, Medicine and Heath Care Authority, and that he felt singled out for laboratory tests with an exaggerated payment for testing. He has also faced a shortage of forex and a lingering accusation of tampering with the dates of his imported products.
The 87 year old lost his supermarket when it was nationalized during the Derg era, only to buy it back at an auction when it was privatized during the downfall of the government and returned to the country for good.
Earlier this year, he told The Reporter, how he has been “continuously humiliated by government officials,” and how he has been suffering because of shortages in forex within Ethiopia.
Aschalew Belay, a noted entrepreneur in the capital among others, confirmed to The Reporter that he has acquired the supermarket and he will keep the name as-is.
However, the supermarket will undergo an extensive renovation and will re-open just before the Ethiopian New Year, later this year.
The Reporter visited the supermarket to be able to speak to Charalambos N Tsimas, but he was not made available.
