The UK’s Office of Fair Trading has said that consumers are responsible for the closure of small stores because they chose not to frequent them often enough.
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“If consumers choose not to shop at small independent retailers this does not merit intervention from the OFT,” a spokesperson for the consumer watchdog told just-food.
The decline of small independently-owned shops has prompted outcry from independent retailers, the media and consumer groups. However, OFT chief executive John Fingleton has described this attitude as “schizophrenic”.
“If small shops are closing it is because people don’t go and shop in them, and that’s not our problem,” Fingleton has been quoted as saying. “Consumers are a bit schizophrenic: they want small shops to be there when they go once a month, but if they only go that often they won’t be.”
The OFT is currently investigating a number of large retailers and their suppliers over allegations of price-fixing.
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By GlobalDataMeanwhile, the Competition Commission concluded its investigation into the grocery sector last week, finding that no action was required to protect independent retailers from the buying power of the multiples.
