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Lidl

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Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG
Lidl
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryRetailing
Founded1930
FounderDieter Schwarz
Headquarters
Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg
,
Switzerland
Number of locations
9800 stores, in 28 countries in Europe, expected to open stores in United States by 2018[1]
Area served
Most of Europe
Key people
Klaus Gehrig, Chairman
ProductsDiscount store, hypermarket/supercenter/superstore
Revenue€ 63,35 billion euro (2013)
OwnerLidl Stiftung & Co. KG
Number of employees
315,000
ParentSchwarz Gruppe
DivisionsLidl, Kaufland
Websitelidl-info.com
A typical Lidl store in Nottingham, United Kingdom, which opened in 2011. Products are stacked on removable pallets for easy re-stocking
Lidl Templemore, County Tipperary, Ireland
Lidl stores worldwide.
Dark blue: Current countries Lidl operates in.
Light blue: Planned expansion.
European countries in which Lidl is active
A Lidl store in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
Lidl grocery store in Angers, France in 2013
A Lidl store in Lomma, Sweden
A fake Lidl store in Egypt (the company does not officially trade here)
Lidl store in a former railway station in Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (German pronunciation: [ˈliːdəl]; English: /ˈlɪdəl/ LID-əl), formerly Schwarz Unternehmens Treuhand KG, is a German global discount supermarket chain, based in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany,[2] that operates over 10,000 stores across Europe. It belongs to the holding company Schwarz Gruppe, which also owns the store chains Handelshof and hypermarket Kaufland.

Lidl is the chief competitor of the similar German discount chain Aldi.

History

The company was founded in the 1940s by a member of the Schwarz family, and was called [Schwarz Lebensmittel-Sortimentsgroßhandlung] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (Schwarz Assorted Wholesale Foods). Lidl has since its opening in 1973 established itself in over 20 countries throughout Europe. The name Lidl is the surname of a former business partner of Josef Schwarz's, Ludwig Lidl, a retired schoolteacher, and Josef's son Dieter Schwarz bought the rights to the name from him for 1,000 German Marks, as he could not use the name Schwarz Markt; Schwarzmarkt means "black market". Lidl is part of the Schwarz Group, the fifth-largest retailer in the world with sales of $82.4 billion (2011).[3]

In 1930, Josef Schwarz became a partner in Südfrüchte Großhandel Lidl & Co., a fruit wholesaler, and he developed the company into a general food wholesaler. In 1977, under his son Dieter Schwarz, the Schwarz-Gruppe began to focus on discount markets, larger supermarkets, and cash and carry wholesale markets. As a result of the war, the company was destroyed in 1944, and a ten-year reconstruction period soon started. The first Lidl discount store was opened in 1973, copying the Aldi concept. Schwarz rigorously removed merchandise that did not sell from the shelves, and cut costs by keeping the size of the retail outlets as small as possible. By 1977, the Lidl chain comprised 33 discount stores.

Since launching in the United Kingdom in September 1994, Lidl has grown consistently, and today has over 590 stores. While it is still a small player in the United Kingdom, with a grocery market share of less than 5%, its importance, along with that of continental no-frills competitor Aldi is growing, with half of shoppers in the United Kingdom visiting Aldi or Lidl over Christmas.[4]

In 2015 the company announced it will create its US headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.[5]

Other services

In October 2009, Lidl Movies was launched in the United Kingdom,[6] undercutting Tesco DVD Rental, which had previously been the United Kingdom's cheapest online DVD rental service. The service was powered by OutNow DVD Rental. OutNow went into liquidation in October 2011, taking Lidl Movies with it.[7] In August 2013, Lidl UK also launched an online photo service, which prints photos and photo gifts at discounted prices.[8]

In January 2012, Lidl launched bakeries in their stores across Europe. They consist of a small baking area with a number of ovens, together with an area where bread and pastries, such as croissants, are displayed for sale.

Approach to retailing

Like fellow German supermarket Aldi, Lidl has a no-frills approach of displaying most of its products in their original delivery cartons, allowing the customers to take the product directly from the carton. When the carton is empty, it is simply replaced with a full one. Staffing is minimal, so that a profit can still be made even though the prices are low. Together with Aldi, Lidl has carved out its own niche with this approach. In contrast to Aldi, there are generally more branded products on offer and while Lidl imports many low-priced gourmet foods from Europe, it also sources many local products from the country where the store is located. Like Aldi, Lidl has special weekly offers, and its stock of non-food items often changes with time. Lidl operates in most European countries e.g. much of Eastern Europe, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. In contrast to Aldi, Lidl advertises extensively in its homeland of Germany.

Criticism

Trade unions in Germany and other countries have repeatedly criticised Lidl for mistreatment of workers, breach of European directives on working time and other abuses. These have been published in the Black Book on the Schwarz Retail Company published in Germany and are now also available in English.[9] While The Times notes that Lidl managers work excessive hours, being obliged to sign out of the Working Time Directive when starting with the company, both The Guardian[10] and The Times[11] in the UK amongst other allegations have reported that Lidl spies on its workforce with cameras, makes extensive notes on employee behavior, particularly focusing on attempting to sack female workers who might become pregnant and also forces staff at warehouses to do "piece-rate" work. Lidl management has denied the charges. In Italy, in 2003, a judge in Savona sentenced Lidl for anti-union policies, a crime in that country.[12] Lidl has been criticised in both the United Kingdom and Ireland for not allowing workers to join unions.

In March 2008, the German news magazine Stern released a cover story reporting systematic surveillance of Lidl workers, including the most intimate details of their private affairs.[13][14][15]

In November 2014, Lidl UK staff were stopped from speaking any language other than English - including Welsh. The Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith) said the policy was "appalling". Cymdeithas yr Iaith's chairman, Jamie Bevan, added that "since the Welsh language bill was passed four years ago, it is illegal to stop staff from speaking to customers in Welsh".[16]

Operations

There are Lidl stores in each member state of the European Union excluding the Baltic states, and also in Switzerland.

Current

Country Number of stores
 Austria 198[17]
 Belgium 300
 Bulgaria 77 [18]
 Croatia 86 [19]
 Czech Republic 220
 Cyprus 14
 Denmark 94
 Finland 141
 France 1500
 Germany 3301
 Greece 226
 Hungary 156
 Ireland 182
 Italy 552 [20]
 Luxembourg 6
 Malta 7
 Netherlands 400
 Poland 525 [21]
 Portugal 210
 Romania 187
 Slovakia 130
 Slovenia 46 [22]
 Spain 527 [23]
 Sweden 160
  Switzerland 6
 United Kingdom 590
 Serbia no data

Former

Country Number of stores
 Norway 50 stores sold to Reitangruppen in 2008.[24] Now REMA 1000 stores

Planned

Country Opening Notes
 Lithuania[25] 2015 The first store in Lithuania is expected to open in 2015 in Vilnius[26] and second in Jonava. Stores in every major city of Lithuania are said to follow.[27]
 Serbia[28] 2015 The first store will open in Zrenjanin, and the second in Subotica,[29] followed by Kruševac[30] another will open in Novi Sad in 2015.[31]
 United States 2018 Planned 100 new supermarkets in United States.[32]
 Australia 2015 Currently sourcing locations and planning head office to be set up in the Melbourne metropolitan region, as yet store numbers are unknown but Lidl is expected to mirror Aldi's rollout throughout the eastern states.[33]
 Russia 2020 Planned 20 new supermarkets in Russia.
 Morocco N/A Lidl plans to gain entry to Morocco.
 Namibia 2032 Lidl is not yet certain that march in the Namibian market.

References

  1. ^ "Lidl gears up to enter the US in 2015". German-retail-blog.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Impressum." Lidl. Retrieved 28 September 2012. "Adresse: Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG Stiftsbergstraße 1 74167 Neckarsulm "
  3. ^ "User account | Supermarket News". Subscribers.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Half of UK shoppers visited Lidl, Aldi over Xmas - fastFT: Market-moving news and views, 24 hours a day". FT.com. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  5. ^ Vozzella, Laura. "McAuliffe bags German grocer Lidl, bringing hundreds of jobs to Virginia". The Washington Post.
  6. ^ "Latest News – Which? News". Which.co.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  7. ^ Kukiewicz, Julia (28 February 2013). "OutNow: A Look Back". choose.net. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  8. ^ "Our Offers". Lidl Photos. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  9. ^ "Black Book on Lidl in English" (PDF).
  10. ^ Pidd, Helen (14 March 2007). "Cheap But Not So Cheerful". The Guardian.
  11. ^ Boyes, R. (27 March 2008). "Lidl the Big Brother Supermarket Is Watching You". The Times.
  12. ^ "Il tribunale di Savona condanna Lidl Italia per comportamento antisindacale" (in Italian). Il Magazine. 9 July 2003.
  13. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  14. ^ "stern.de". stern.de. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  15. ^ [2][dead link‍]
  16. ^ "'English only' rule at Lidl shops sparks Welsh row". BBC News. 7 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Lidl Austria Company Profile". Lidl.at. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  18. ^ "LIDL Заслужава си! Нашите магазини". Lidl.bg. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  19. ^ "Lidl želi preteći Plodine i imati čak 120 trgovina u Hrvatskoj". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  20. ^ "Volantini Lidl". CentroVolantini. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  21. ^ "LIDL sklepy spożywcze – gazetka, promocje, przepisy, praca". Lidl.pl. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  22. ^ "Lidlove ljubljanske trgovine del UNICEF-ove mreže Varnih točk". Instore.si. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  23. ^ Lebensmittelzeitung, Lebensmittelhandel Spanien 2014
  24. ^ "Why did Lidl fail in Norway?" (PDF). Brage.bibsys.no. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  25. ^ Rasa Lukaitytė. ""Lidl" patvirtina planuojantis atidaryti parduotuves Lietuvoje – DELFI Verslas". Verslas.delfi.lt. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  26. ^ ""Lidl" Vilniuje pradeda bandomosios parduotuvės statybas – DELFI Verslas". Verslas.delfi.lt. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  27. ^ ""Lidl" vadovybę Lietuvoje ugdys pats – DELFI Verslas". Verslas.delfi.lt. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  28. ^ "Biz – Vesti – Lidl stiže u 20 gradova Srbije?". B92. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  29. ^ "I "Lidl" u Subotici – Суботица – Szabadka – Subotica". Subotica.rs. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  30. ^ "SEEbiz.eu / Lidl stiže u Kruševac". Seebiz.eu. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  31. ^ "Lidl u Novom Sadu sledeće godine". 021.rs. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  32. ^ Thomasson, Emma (28 April 2014). "Lidl postpones plan to open U.S. stores to 2018". Reuters.com. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  33. ^ Thomasson, Emma. "Lidl focus on Australian market". Channelnews.com.au. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
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