Thursday 13 May 2010

Supermarket share

 
Few in Greece and probably even fewer outside Greece are aware of the absorption of Dia Hellas (Greek supermarket chain) by Carrefour-Marinopoulos. Whilst Greece has the lowest percentage of concentration in Europe with the top three chains having just over a third of the total grocery market I do hope Greece will not see a move of large group domination.

Having spent all my working life in supermarket retailing in the UK I feel qualified to make the statement that Greek society is the richer for having a wide variety of private retailers. There is room for both the giant superstore and  private business if legislation is introduced controlling trading practices. Let us not see Greece go the way of the UK with Sunday opening and late night / 24 hour trading in supermarkets. A restriction on stores in excess of 400sq m on trading times will allow the private man to prosper on a local level.
I wholeheartedly support free trade, but there are times when society and family values far outweigh commercialism.