Sir, - The report you carried (May 14th), alleging that Safeway is scaling back its plans to expand in the Republic, was seriously misleading. Safeway is not scaling back its expansion plans and has no intention of doing so. We are firmly committed to developing our business in the Republic. Two additional points need to be made: First, we have never committed ourselves to a target figure for new store openings, so it is misleading for anyone to speculate on the existence of such a target; second, it is the quality and location of the sites that matter, not their number. As the total stock of good sites is, by definition, limited, there is bound to be stiff competition between rival food retailers to secure them.
Indeed, it is very much in the interests of Irish consumers that there should be free and open competition for these sites. Shoppers can only benefit from having a choice of leading retail brands and competitive offerings within easy reach. - Yours, etc., Kevin Hawkins,
Director of Communications, Safeway, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 4AY.