[prawn]

Local prices did not fall, of course...

I think one reason for this is that rent, especially in shopping centres (malls), had kept pace and didn't drop away even though their tenants were facing tougher competition from abroad. Another is that distributors were less than keen to give up their slice. So, even when some retailers might've wanted to drop prices to compete, they were facing pressure on the cost of floor space as well as product.

[jacques_chester]

Neither of these arguments stack up. COGS went down went the dollar went up. That meant gross profits went up. If rent stayed the same, retailers had more flexibility to cut prices and they chose not to.