Retailers face battle to stay on top of their game

Below-cost selling and the rise of the discounters is hitting family retailers hard, writes Kyran FitzGerald.

A FEW weeks ago, a new Tesco store opened near my home. Within a couple of weeks, the shutters went down on the local family-run Londis.

Retail is a hard place to be if you don’t happen to have the equivalent of a bank behind you. Irish fruit and vegetable farmers certainly agree. The special 5c and 6c offers for bags of carrots may have wowed customers, but they have infuriated the Irish Farmers’ Association.