What are Progressive Enterprises up to?

That is the company that own Foodtown, Countdown, Woolworths and a couple of other minor supermarket chains.

As I understood it Foodtown and Woolworths were the full service supermarkets with the bigger product range and prices that reflexed that. Higher prices in other words. Competition for New World.

Countdown was the budget edition, direct competition for Pak'n'Save.

Until recently that is.

Locally we have noticed something odd with the prices at Countdown. First we thought it was inflation, the wet winter and the credit crunch. Then we thought perhaps they were using the recent revamping of the local Countdown (the planning of which sucked by the way) as a excuse to increase prices.

The prices weren't jumping just a few percent however. Things like wafer biscuits when from 99c to $1.29, a 30% price rise. Bread, the cheap stuff, when from $1.09 to $1.19 to $1.45. The cheapest house brand vanished and specials started to look like anything but specials - until we saw the new inflated normal price. Tinned fruit for under a dollar? Not any more.

A chance visit to Foodtown has shed a little light on the mystery. Milk and bread at Foodtown is the same price along with quite a list of other items.

Anybody know what is going on?