Adams Arcade is located along Ngong Road, roughly 6 kilometres from Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD).
It was established by Abdul Habib Adam in 1959, and it has grown from just a few shops to a city landmark.
He owned the shopping centre that has flourished into Adams Arcade in Nairobi.
The story of the shopping centre began when Adam woke up one day and started sketching a rough outline on a piece of paper.
He saved up enough money to buy some land in the ‘colonial area’ of then colonial Kenya in order to build the shopping centre.
However, he faced challenges from the Council because, despite not being an architect, he had created all the initial drawings and designs.
Adam’s designs were approved after he convinced an architect from South Africa to sign them.
The Total petrol station was the first structure to appear on the site in 1954.
Adam convinced Total Oil Company to build a petrol station on a portion of the land he had bought.
He then financed the first phase of the shopping centre, which was completed in 1959.
The first phase consisted of nine shops and nine three-bedroom flats with balconies.
Adams Arcade First Tenants
The first tenants were a bakery, a post office, a Deacon’s shop, a Bata shop, a green grocer’s shop, a chemist, a Standard Chartered bank, and a butchery.
The first tenants of the nine flats on the top floor were British Army soldiers and their wives.
The shopping centre was named Adams Arcade.
The bakery, initially managed by an Italian couple, was known as Bachelor’s Bakery.
It was later renamed to Kencake Bakery and taken over by an Asian tenant.
Their pastries were very popular and pulled people from all over Kenya.
Marium Adam, Abdul Habib Adam’s wife, is quoted as saying that people came as far as from Nakuru to purchase the delicious treats.
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Metropole Cinema
In 1964, the Metropole Cinema opened at Adams Arcade in a ceremony presided over by the Nairobi Mayor of the time, Charles Rubia.
The post office is the only business that has remained unchanged since Adams Arcade first opened to the public.
Adam died at the Nairobi Hospital on March 4, 1974.
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Halal Meat Products
He was also the face behind Halal Meat Products, a privately owned slaughterhouse.
The slaughterhouse was allocated 11.5 acres of government land in Ngong.
The government spent Ksh30 million of public funds on the construction of the slaughterhouse.
After his death, the firm fell into the hands of Mohamed Ali Modha and his wife, Fatuma Tunny Modha.
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