The ACT Government has been accused of ''picking winners'' and turning Supabarn into a third dominating supermarket force.
Heavyweights in the property and supermarket sectors yesterday accused the ACT Government of showing favouritism to the expanding grocery retailer.
Sites at Casey and Kingston were released to Supabarn under ''pre-commitment'' agreements in recent weeks as part of the the Government's new supermarket policy, created to increase competition by limiting the expansion of the two major players, Coles and Woolworths.
But the owners of four IGA stores in the ACT, the Krnc family, launched a campaign against the Government's supermarket policy yesterday by asking customers to sign a petition asking if they would like to see more IGA stores in Canberra.
They also are asking why Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has excluded retailers from securing prime supermarket land when it is trying to promote competition.
''I'm just dumbfounded,'' said company director John Krnc.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said late last night that the process was ''fair and robust''.
''The competition policy will lead to more choices, more suburban supermarkets and potentially cheaper prices,'' Mr Stanhope said.
In a letter to The Canberra Times the director of Rock Development Group, John Efkarpidis, said the Government had given Supabarn special treatment when it excluded other independent retailers from applying to operate at Kingston and Casey.
''Through direct intervention the Government appears to be picking a winner whilst neglecting to give smaller independents the chance to enter large format supermarket retailing,'' Mr Efkarpidis said.
Mr Efkarpidis's family owned several Cannons Food Barn in the 1990s. He conceded the Coles and Woolworths duopoly would not be as strong in Canberra if his family had not sold its stores to Woolworths 14 years ago, but said he wanted to re-enter the supermarket sector.
He hopes to open independent stores in the ACT but his five-year search for suitable property has been unsuccessful and he blamed Government policy for much of this.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
Source: The Canberra Times
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