Ghost Towns; Rise of the Supermarkets Could Shut Down 20,000 Small Stores, MPs Told

Byline: SEAN POULTER

FOUR out of ten small stores could be wiped out within a decade creating 'ghost towns' across Britain, it was claimed yesterday.

MPs were told Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are effectively putting small rivals out of business at an alarming rate.

Leaders of the UK's 50,000 convenience community stores said 2,000 are closing a year. If the trend continues, the number will drop by 40 per cent over the next ten years.

They warned the situation could be even worse if big stores win a trading free-for-all on Sundays. The claim came as MPs on the All-party Shops Group began investigating the effects of the major supermarkets' expansion, particularly the move to open or buy-up thousands of small stores.

David Rae, chief …

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Publication information: Article title: Ghost Towns; Rise of the Supermarkets Could Shut Down 20,000 Small Stores, MPs Told. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Daily Mail (London). Publication date: October 19, 2005. Page number: 15. © 2007 Daily Mail. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.

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