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Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international
discount retailer A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient Logistics, distribution to kee ...
chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in
Neckarsulm Neckarsulm () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, near Heilbronn, and part of the district of Heilbronn. , Neckarsulm had 26,800 inhabitants. The name Neckarsulm derives from the city's location where the Neckar and Sulm rivers ...
,
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, which also operates the
hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...
chain
Kaufland Kaufland is a German hypermarket chain, part of the Schwarz Gruppe which also owns Lidl. The hypermarket directly translates to English as 'buy-land'. It opened its first store in 1984 in Neckarsulm and quickly expanded to become a major chain ...
. Lidl is the chief competitor of the similar German discount chain
Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...
in several markets. There are Lidl stores in every member state of the European Union as well as in Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. In October 2021, Lidl also announced that it intended to open its first store in Ukraine, but there has been no progress due to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.


History

In 1932, Josef Schwarz became a partner in Südfrüchte Großhandlung Lidl & Co., a fruit
wholesaler Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In g ...
, and he developed the company into a general food wholesaler. In 1977, under his son
Dieter Schwarz Dieter Schwarz (born 24 September 1939) is a German billionaire businessman, and owner of the Schwarz-Gruppe. He is the former chairman and CEO of the supermarket chain Lidl, and the hypermarket chain Kaufland. Career In 1973, Dieter Schwarz ...
, the
Schwarz-Gruppe The Schwarz Group is a family-owned multinational retail group that operates grocery shops under the Lidl and Kaufland brands. It is the largest European retailer and the fourth-largest retailer in the world by revenue. The Schwarz Group store ...
began to focus on discount markets, larger supermarkets, and cash and carry wholesale markets. He did not want to use the name Schwarz-Markt (''Schwarzmarkt'' means "
black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...
") and wanted to use the name of his father's former business partner, A. Lidl, but legal reasons prevented him from using that name for his discount stores. When he discovered a newspaper article about a painter and retired schoolteacher Ludwig Lidl, he bought the rights to the name from him for 1,000 German marks. Lidl is part of the Schwarz Group, the fifth-largest retailer in the world with sales of €104.3 billion (2018). 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. Lidl opened its first UK store in 1994. Its grocery market share in the UK was 5.9% in 2019. Sven Seidel was appointed CEO of the company in March 2014, after the previous CEO Karl-Heinz Holland stepped down. Holland had served as chief executive since 2008 but left due to undisclosed "unbridgeable" differences over future strategy. Seidel stepped down from his position in February 2017 after ''Manager Magazin'' reported he had fallen out of favour with
Klaus Gehrig Klaus Gehrig (born 1948) is a German businessman, the CEO of Schwarz Gruppe, a private family-owned German retail group that owns Lidl and Kaufland Kaufland is a German hypermarket chain, part of the Schwarz Gruppe which also owns Lidl. ...
, who has headed the Schwarz Group since 2004. Seidel was succeeded as CEO by Dane
Jesper Højer Jesper Højer (born 5 September 1978) is a Danish businessman. He was the CEO of the Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. H ...
, previously head of Lidl's international buying operation. In June 2015, the company announced it would establish a United States headquarters in
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
. Lidl has major distribution centers in
Mebane Mebane is a city located mostly in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States, and partly in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County. The town was named for Alexander Mebane, an American Revolutionary War general and member of the Unite ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, and
Spotsylvania County, Virginia Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that bec ...
. The company initially focused on opening locations in East Coast states, between
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, and as far west as
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. In June 2017, Lidl opened its first stores in the United States in Virginia Beach, Virginia and other mid-Atlantic cities. The company planned to open a total of one hundred U.S. stores by the summer of 2018. In November 2018, Lidl announced plans to acquire 27 Best Market stores in New York and New Jersey. In December 2018, Lidl opened its first location in New York City, in the
Staten Island Mall Staten Island Mall is a shopping mall in New Springville, Staten Island, New York City, opened in 1973. It is the only indoor shopping mall in the borough. It is the largest retail center on the island and is the site of the island's third-largest ...
. The company has continued to expand throughout the eastern U.S., with over 100 stores by the end of 2020. In August 2020, Lidl announced that it planned to open up another 50 stores in the U.S. by the end of 2021.


Business model

Like fellow German supermarket Aldi, Lidl has a
zero waste Zero waste is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages redesigning resource life cycles so that all products are reused. The goal of this movement is to avoid sending trash to landfills, incinerators, or the ocean. Curren ...
, no-frills, "pass-the-savings-to-the-consumer" approach of displaying most 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. In contrast to Aldi, there are generally more branded products offered. Lidl distributes many low-priced gourmet foods by producing each of them in a single European Union country for its whole worldwide chain, but 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. In contrast to Aldi, Lidl advertises extensively in its homeland of Germany. Just as Aldi, Lidl does not play
mood music Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, no ...
in most countries, including Germany. Exceptions include stores in the United States, Croatia, Spain (not all), Poland and Lithuania. Additionally, in two stores in Denmark music is played as a test. Lidl stores have
PA system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
s for important announcements but do not broadcast commercials. The Lidl operation in the United Kingdom took a different approach than in Germany, with a focus on
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
and
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
, and providing employee benefits not required by law, including paying the independently verified living wage and offering a staff discount. Upmarket products were introduced, especially in the lead-up to Christmas. This required significant investment in marketing to produce sales growth but had an effect on Lidl's logistical operation and pressure on profits. Ronny Gottschlich, who had run Lidl GB for the six years to 2016, was responsible for this approach, which led to friction with head office, due to the cost involved. In September 2016, Gottschlich unexpectedly left and was replaced by the Austrian sales and operations director, German-national Christian Härtnagel. Lidl continued to have ambitious investment plans in the United Kingdom, ultimately doubling the number of stores to 1,500. In the financial year of 2015, Lidl Great Britain's revenue from its over 630 stores throughout Britain was £4.7 billion.


Criticism

In 2008, Lidl was accused by journalists of spying on their workers, listening to private phone calls, and sometimes even following them home or to doctor's appointments. In one instance, an employee's file was supposedly annotated to note that most of her friends were "drug users". In another instance, a female worker at a Lidl store in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
was allegedly forbidden from using the toilet during working hours. An internal company memo from the incident was made public as part of a court case, in which the company is alleged to have advised management "Female workers who have their periods may go to the toilet now and again, but to enjoy this privilege they should wear a visible headband". Some trade union activists have compared this behavior to that of American companies which engage in
union busting Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...
, drawing the comparison to surveillance techniques used to proactively detect and stop union organizing activity within a place of business. Lidl responded to these claims, stating that the surveillance was intended to prevent shoplifting, and to detect "abnormal behavior". Lidl has also been accused by
trade unions in Germany Trade unions in Germany have a history reaching back to the German revolution in 1848, and still play an important role in the German economy and society. The most important labor organization is the German Confederation of Trade Unions (', or ...
of shutting down stores when workers elect worker councils or opt to engage in collective bargaining with a trade union. In October 2022, animal welfare NGOs across Europe accused Lidl of a ‘chicken scandal’. Investigation footage filmed on a Lidl supplier's farm in Germany showed sick and injured chickens unable to walk and lying in their own waste. In November 2022, another investigation was published showing similar conditions at Lidl supplier farms in Spain. Further investigations in Italy and Austria have also revealed severe chicken welfare issues. In the Austrian investigation footage, birds are seen attempting to eat the rotting carcasses of other dead chickens. The chickens in the footage are fast-growing breeds, which reach their kill weight in just 35 days and have higher levels of mortality, lameness and muscle disease than slower-growing breeds. NGOs have called on the supermarket to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), a set of welfare standards which prohibits the use of fast-growing breeds and requires the provision of more space and enrichment for chickens. While Lidl France already committed to the BCC in 2020, Lidl have so far not made a commitment for the rest of their European operations.


Stores

Lidl has a presence with stores in 31 countries.


Former markets


Future markets


Other services

In October 2009, Lidl Movies was launched in the United Kingdom, undercutting
Tesco DVD Rental Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...
, which had previously been the United Kingdom's cheapest online rental service for DVDs. The service was powered by OutNow DVD Rental. OutNow went into liquidation in October 2011, taking Lidl Movies with it. 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. The bakeries were initially trialed in a limited number of stores, to determine whether there was a demand for freshly baked products in-store. As of May 2019, Lidl US has partnered with Boxed.com to test a home delivery service using the online retailer's technology. Lidl also partners with Target Corp. subsidiary Shipt for grocery home delivery. Lidl also runs Representative Offices in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, though there is no mention of Lidl stores opening in said countries. Their operations are likely limited to overseeing manufacturing contracts for most of non-food products, offered in Lidl stores, with local manufacturers based in these countries. In April 2021, Lidl in Ireland started offering customers coupons to get free pads or tampons each month as an initiative against period poverty.


Lidl Plus

In August 2018, Lidl introduced "Lidl Plus" supermarket loyalty card via an app on the
Apple App Store The App Store is an app store platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS Software Devel ...
and
Google Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sys ...
. The app is available in most European countries that Lidl operates in, offering discounts on own brand products and on partner offers. The app also has, in several countries, a bonus program with cashback.


References


External links


The company’s official US website




{{Authority control Arts and crafts retailers German companies established in 1930 Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Companies based in Neckarsulm Retail companies established in 1930 German brands Supermarkets of Germany Discount stores