AN ALL-OUT but temporary price war has broken out among the big food retailers this weekend, which is one of the busiest on the annual shopping calendar.
Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Superquinn, Supervalu and Lidl are all running cut-price promotions over the weekend designed to win a significant slice of the back-to-school shopping market.
With the retail sector showing signs of a slowdown, retailers are also anxious to win more business in order to improve cash flow, according to industry sources.
Amid signs of stagnation in the market, Dunnes Stores has shelved plans to open three new stores, Superquinn is reported to be up for sale, and Tesco plans to offload €70 million worth of surplus property.
And in another sign of the intense competition in the sector, The Irish Times understands Tesco and Lidl have exchanged legal threats in a row over their respective advertising campaigns.
Lidl objected to price comparisons made by Tesco in a recent advertising campaign, while Tesco complained about derogatory references to its new Cash Saver low-cost range in advertising by the German discounter.
Sources say the retail sector has slowed dramatically in the past six months: "It's been a shuddering change. No one has ever seen anything like this before."
Some believe the intense competition between the main players could claim some casualties.
Dunnes is reducing its prices by 10 per cent across the board over the weekend, while Superquinn is cutting the prices of 24 staples by up to 75 per cent "while stocks last".
However, Tesco dismissed its rivals' moves as short-term: "All retailers recognise there is a new price consciousness . . . customers will go where they find consistent, reliable price-cutting and where they can be confident of low prices in the long term", a spokesman said.
Tesco had cut the price of 3,000 items since March, he added.
A spokeswoman for Superquinn said its promotions were designed to put the fun back into shopping at back-to-school time. Superquinn had reduced the price of 1,000 items since June, she added.