Irish Pharmacies Call for Limits on Corporate Ownership

Date: 1 Nov 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) has asked the government to adopt restrictions on the ownership of pharmacies similar to regulations in place in most European countries. The IPU favors restricting pharmacy ownership to pharmacists, and capping the number of pharmacies any pharmacist can own at five. Eleven of the fifteen European Union countries, including France and Germany, have similar laws prohibiting corporate chains from operating drugstores. … Read More

Ireland May Rescind Superstore Ban

Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Ireland’s Environment Minister Martin Cullen has announced that the government may lift a five-year-old nationwide policy banning superstores. The policy, adopted as a temporary measure in 1998 and made permanent in 2001, prohibits stores over 3,500 square meters (38,000 square feet) in Dublin and 3,000 square meters (32,000 square feet) in the rest of the country. … Read More

Thailand Adopts Local Planning to Control Superstores

Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The Thai government has issued a new directive designed to control the expansion of superstores. The measure requires provinces to establish committees to draft new planning rules that stipulate where large-scale stores may locate. The directive covers all of Thailand’s 76 provinces, except Bangkok and three other major cities, which already have zoning in place. The government estimates it will take three years to implement land use planning nationwide.… Read More

Britain to Review Supermarket Merger

Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In March, British officials launched an inquiry to examine the competitive impacts of a merger between two of the country’s top supermarket chains. The findings could derail attempts by Britain’s top three and number five chains—Tesco, Sainsbury, Wal-Mart-owned Asda, and Morrison—to purchase the fourth largest grocery chain, Safeway.… Read More

McDonald’s Defeated in Oaxaca, Mexico

Date: 1 Feb 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Officials of Oaxaca, Mexico, have turned down an application by McDonald’s to open an outlet in a 500-year-old plaza at the center of town. "There are values that we have to preserve, such as our traditions and culture," city leader Gabino Cue Monteagudo said. A local ordinance allows local officials to reject development projects that endanger the city’s cultural heritage.… Read More

British Government Rejects Big Box Sprawl

Date: 1 Feb 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In a move that could derail big box development projects throughout England, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has rejected a bid by the furniture chain Ikea to build a 300,000-square-foot store (seven times the size of a football field) outside the city of Stockport. In a letter explaining his decision, Deputy Prime Minister Prescott said the proposed store violated several provisions of both national and local planning policy. … Read More

German High Court Convicts Wal-Mart of Predatory Pricing

Date: 1 Feb 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Germany’s highest court has ruled that Wal-Mart’s below-cost pricing strategy undermines competition and violates the country’s antitrust laws. Two years ago, the federal Cartel Office accused Wal-Mart and two other large supermarket chains of selling goods below cost and ordered the companies to raise their prices. The items in question included about a dozen staple products like milk, butter, and vegetable oil.… Read More

Wal-Mart’s Purchase of Puerto Rico Chain Challenged

Date: 1 Feb 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to block Wal-Mart’s acquisition of the island’s largest grocery store chain, Supermercados Amigo Inc. The outcome of the case could affect the ability of states to review and challenge mergers. Wal-Mart already operates 19 outlets in Puerto Rico, including eight Sam’s Club stores and one supercenter. … Read More

In New Zealand, Concerns Growing as Big Boxes Multiply

Date: 1 Nov 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Citizens and community organizations in New Zealand are beginning to take action to curb the spread of chain stores and big box retailers. "The big box phenomena has had a huge impact," says Warren Snow of Envision New Zealand, a community development company. "In the same way that Wal-Mart has decimated the main streets of America, New Zealand towns and suburbs are also buckling under the might of big box retailers." … Read More

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