Punishing retailers

Industry Minister Milan Urban wants to impose rigid German-like rules for clearance sales beginning next year, but this would eliminate much of the attractiveness of the sales for shoppers and retailers. Shoppers would prefer that existing laws against false advertising and other dirty tricks by retailers simply be enforced. If someone walks out of a store without paying, the full force of the law comes down on him. But if the same store steals from its customers by falsely marking goods, customers have little recourse. The police and the ČOI commerical inspectorate are slow to act. ČSSD and the Communists failed before the elections in their effort to restrict shop hours, largely because millions of consumers opposed the idea. ČSSD's latest crackdowns on chain stores could suffer a similar fate, because they're aimed more at punishing retailers than helping consumers.