The Bónus discount supermarket on Hallveigarstígur will soon close, leaving only the Bónus on Laugavegur as the sole option for low-price groceries in downtown Reykjavík, Vísir reports.
The move is a part of an agreement reached between Hagar, the company which owns Bónus, and Olíuverslun Íslands and the real estate company DGV, with arbitration by the Icelandic Competition Authority (ICA).
One of the conditions of this agreement was to sell the Bónus locations at not only Hallveigarstígur but also Skeifan, as well as the branch on Smiðjuvegur in Kópavogur. The key sticking point was that these locations are considered to be key spots in the capital area, and the ICA believes these locations should be available to other companies.
Numerous people Vísir spoke with expressed displeasure with the decision to close and sell the Hallveigarstígur shop. There are few supermarkets in downtown Reykjavík that offer affordable groceries; 10/11, while being fairly ubiquitous downtown, offers many of the same goods but for a much higher mark-up.
As such, only the Laugavegur location will remain for anyone living downtown who needs to buy affordable groceries on a regular basis. The fate of the Hallveigarstígur location, in terms of who the buyer will be and what they will replace the shop with, will remain a mystery until mid-November.
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