Euro parity may be too little too late for freefalling retail sector

TESCO’S announcement that it was introducing euro-sterling price parity on clothing appears to be an innovative first step which many retailers here should have implemented months ago.

Certainly it would have enabled stores, particularly those in Dublin along with the border and midlands, to be more competitive during the lucrative Christmas season, thereby giving them a greater nest-egg to fight off the worst rigours of the recession.

Retail outlets across the country have been shutting down at a rate of knots over the past four months.