JEDDAH — It appeared as if the store had been robbed. Everything was in disarray and the shelves were completely empty. This was the scene Tuesday evening at many of the outlets of a famous hypermarket chain in Jeddah after it announced a mega sale on most electronic and household items. "Crazy prices... Hurry before the deals run out!" said advertisements placed in various local dailies. Thanks to social media, the news spread like wildfire. And like locusts, customers swarmed to the outlets of the hypermarket. "I rushed to a hyper store near my house soon after finishing work, but by the time I reached there, most of the items had been sold," said Rashique Ahmed, a Jeddah resident. "I grabbed a leftover TV set, and a customer offered to buy the TV from me by paying an extra SR100," he said. The next morning huge crowds gathered outside many outlets of the hypermarket chain despite Wednesday being a working day. But they had to return home disappointed as a notice outside the stores said that since stocks had to be placed on the shelves, the stores would open in the afternoon. Social media was flooded with photos of the crowd and the rampaged interiors of the stores. An unauthenticated price list of the items on sale also went viral. The rush and excitement were reminiscent of the Black Friday sales in Western countries when customers queue up the whole night to grab the best deals. Affected by this mega dole-out, other retailers have reportedly approached the Ministry of Commerce and Investment and the Council of Competition. Article 1 of the Kingdom's Competition Law states that it "aims to protect and encourage fair competition and combat monopolistic practices that affect lawful competition." Article 5 of the Law states that "a firm enjoying a dominant status shall be banned from any practice restricting competition, as specified by the regulations, including: Selling a commodity or service at a price below cost, with the intention of forcing competitors out of the market." In the past, the Ministry of Commerce and Investment has taken action against companies offering unreasonable discounts.
