Firstly, I'm not downramping MTS. I'd be really happy to see it...

Firstly, I'm not downramping MTS. I'd be really happy to see it pick up and do well. I held until 2 months ago, when I took a big loss on my holding and invested it all into Macquarie Bank. I have recovered half my losses on Macquarie already. The lesson for me is that if a stock is in the doldrums, get out and take losses and move into something else to try to recover instead of holding on for years and years and hoping it will get back to what I paid.

The problem with going into the local IGA and seeing it busy is that you can't transfer this to the entire operation. Our local IGA was a hole. Meat was greasy and cheap, vegetables rotting on the shelves, staff sloppy looking.

Each store is individually owned, not owned by MTS, unlike their competitors, so the store is only as good as its management, which is not under the control of MTS.

After the Brisbane floods, Woolworths moved in and took the lease on the flooded out local IGA space and refurbished into one of their mini stores. They do well enough, but even if they didn't, it demonstrates their ability to mop up the spaces when they become available and rid the neighbourhood of the IGA competitor.

Then I noticed the ALDI stores opening - two new ones within easy driving range of me in the last six months, which makes 4 in total I can easily drive to. Now Costco is coming in with the first store in Brisbane and it won't stop at one.

I saw the writing on the wall. It's going to be a hard job for MTS to retain its market share let alone grow it. I decided to get out.