According to the Supermarket News, Irish Environment Minister Noel Dempsey is poised to introduce legislation banning the development of superstores. The source of their tip was the Europe Intelligence Newswire, which indicated that Dempsey’s decision would have an impact on several British supermarkets that had plans to build superstores in Ireland. Oh, the luck of the Irish. They were smart enough to look at what’s happened stateside, and pre-empt Wal-Mart from wearing of the green.
For similar stories of countries that have moved in advance of superstore saturation, see the 6/27/00 newsflash regarding a ban on superstores in Argentina, and 6/24/99 for a similar story out of Norway. Any American city or town is free to impose a “dimensional limit” on the size of retail stores. We could drive the snakes out of our countryside too.