The chain seeks a compromise with the rabbis and an early end to the haredi boycott.
Blue Square Israel (NYSE: BSI; TASE: BSI) is mounting a bid to salvage the pre-Passover shopping season. Sources inform ''Globes'' that associates of David Wiessman, the controlling shareholder of Blue Square and the 24/7 minimarket chain AM:PM, have been holding intensive talks over the past two days with the haredi (ultra-orthodox) Sabbath Committee and representatives of other rabbis in an attempt to reach an agreement by the end of the week. "Globes" understands that despite the fall in sales at some of the Blue Square group's Shefa Shuk stores, the chain has ordered its usual holiday season quantities of goods from its suppliers on the assumption that the boycott will soon be lifted.
Nine of the stores in the 40-strong Shefa Shuk chain are located in predominantly haredi neighborhoods. Of these, the stores in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem saw the sharpest drop in sales, estimated around 40%. However, the fall in sales at the other seven stores was much more moderate.
Sales were higher this week in the run-up to the start of the Passover holiday next Saturday night, as students at yeshivot (rabbinical colleges) began their seasonal vacations. In addition, the closure by Weissman of two AM:PM stores last Saturday caused a drop in the coverage given to the boycott by the haredi media and a weakening of the antagonism among haredi shoppers towards the chain. In contrast to previous years, charities and other institutions have not distributed Shefa Shuk gift vouchers in the haredi sector.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 9, 2008
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