Three supermarkets belonging to the 24hour foot store chain 10-11 located, among other places, in the center of Reykjavik have decided to raise their prices on average by 8% after eight o’clock in the evening on weekdays and 24 hours during weekends according to a report by Fréttablaðið. The chain’s chairman cites mounting pressure due to increasing number of tourists and rising costs of running stores in the center. The three stores are located in Austurstræti, Laugavegur and Barónsstígur.
To begin with they raised the price moderately, and only on selected goods such as soft drinks, sweets and tobacco. But they have gradually raised more prices; milk products, health products, canned goods, pastries and bread, children’s food, breakfast cereal, coffie, pasta, energy drinks and juice are now more expensive during night and weekends.
A spokesperson from the consumer association condemns the decision and calls them unprincipled. “This kind of behavior will ruin the reputation of the country as a tourist destination” he proclaims, “This will bite us in the back, we should be fair and good hosts to our foreign visitors”
Other stores in the center have not seen a reason to change their prices, despite of fluctuating pressure and stress due to the central location. Fréttablaðið spoke to some of 10-11’s neighbors, Krónan, budged store has not considered raising the prices nor Kvosin or Krambúðin, all located in the center and in proximity to 10-11. They mostly agree that this is an unsound decision and agree that its unfair to the costumer.