So close, yet so far...

...Tesco has looked on the verge of a monopoly of the retail market ever since they managed, against all the odds to survive the recession and continue on their upwards curve to dominance. Today, however, for the first time in a number of years Tesco suffered a setback, and not just a minor one.

Is the Tesco monopoly dream fading?

Sales over the Christmas period for the company were down by 2.3%, causing a dramatic fall in share prices by 14%, shedding over £4billion of the companies value. Even more worrying for the retail giant is that this fall in sales comes at a time when fellow retailers such as Sainsburys and Morrison's have announced that sales over the same period have actually increased.

But, why is it now that the brakes have suddenly halted the seemingly unstoppable Tesco train. 

Tesco themselves have pinned the blame on their big 'Big price drop'. Tesco personally believe that although, the price drop put pressure on the margins, they did not receive a drive in sales as anticipated to compensate for it.

Another view of this fall in sales could be that the UK public has simply grown fed up of Tesco monopolizing the market and building obscene mega structures on the outskirts of tranquil towns. This consensus is certainly backed up by the fact that like for like sales in the USA rose by 19.3%, figures that compare highly favorably to those of their UK branch of stores. 

Although, Tesco chief executive, Philip Clarke will certainly be feeling the 'heat' to try and turn around these sales figure in the first quarter. They are by no means disastrous, Tesco still remain the dominant force in the retail market with their 30.1% share a long way ahead of second placed Sainsburys who currently have a 16.8% allocation in the market. 

Tesco may well still be the dominant force in the market, but any hopes for monopolization in the near future appear to have been derailed.