Hard Discounting Offsets Economic Blues

Israel's number two mass grocery retail (MGR) operator Blue Square has recently announced a new growth strategy which includes plans to set up a new hard discount store format and the introduction of a new private label line by the end of 2008. Although consumer spending growth is likely to be fairly strong this year, with BMI estimating a figure of 4.6%, we are forecasting a significant slowdown over the next two years as consumers become increasingly cost-conscious. Given this operating environment and rival Super-Sol's entry into the discount sector, this move by Blue Square makes good strategic

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