LONDON - A British supermarket chain apologised Tuesday to the publishers of the new Harry Potter book amid a row which had threatened to keep the hotly-awaited work off its shelves.
ASDA had accused publishers Bloomsbury of "attempting to hold children to ransom" by increasing the recommended sale price of the seventh and final Potter book -- due out on Saturday -- to 17.99 pounds (26.71 euros, 36.82 dollars).
The row, which Bloomsbury said centred on unpaid bills and had nothing to do with the pricing policy, saw Bloomsbury cancel delivery of ASDA's 500,000 copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
But now ASDA has apologised "unreservedly" to Bloomsbury for its comments and said it will now receive copies of the book, which it pledged to sell at Britain's "best value" price.
Minna Fry, marketing director of Bloomsbury, said she was "pleased that this situation has been resolved."
ASDA had pledged to sell the book for 8.87 pounds but has not revealed the price copies will be sold at in the wake of the row.
They had pointed out that the first book in the series, "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone," had an recommended retail price of 11.99 pounds in 1997.
ASDA is Britain's second-biggest supermarket chain behind Tesco and is owned by US-based Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer.
07/17/2007 17:36 GMT