Lidl

Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG

Type	German multi-national
Founded	1930s
Headquarters	Neckarsulm, Germany
Key people	Dieter Schwarz: Chairman and CEO Gunter Schwarz: CEO Michael Dönherp: CFO
Industry	Retail (Grocery)
Products	Mainly own brand, with a few larger and regional brands
Revenue	$ 45.9 billion (2005)[1]
Website	www.lidl-info.com

A Lidl store in Middlesbrough, UK

A Lidl store in Lomma, Sweden

A typical Lidl interior

A fake Lidl store in Egypt (the company does not officially trade here)

A recently opened Lidl store in Southampton, UK

A Lidl store in Police, Poland

Lidl (generally pronounced /ˈlɪdəl/ LI-dəl in English-speaking countries and pronounced /ˈliːdəl/ LEE-dəl in its country of origin) is a German discount supermarket chain that operates about 8,000 stores worldwide. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG. It belongs to the holding company Schwarz, which also owns the store chains Handelshof and Kaufland. Lidl is the chief competitor of the similar German discount chain Aldi.

Founded in the 1930s by a member of the Schwarz family (and called at the time Schwarz Lebensmittel-Sortimentsgrosshandlung), Lidl has – since the opening in 1973 of the first of its stores in their present incarnation – now established itself in over 20 countries worldwide.

The name Lidl is not an abbreviation, but the family name of Ludwig Lidl, a retired teacher. 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. The first Lidl discount store was opened in 1973, copying the Aldi concept. By the year 1977, the Lidl chain comprised 33 discount stores.

Store layout

Most Lidl stores follow the same basic layout flow with tins and carbonated drinks in the first aisle and alcohol in the last. The chiller always runs along the back wall of the store, with chilled convenience foods such as sandwiches, pasta salads and fruit in the first chiller bay. Older stores did not have aisle breaks (gaps in between the shelving) that ensured customers followed the flow of the store. This practice has been largely reduced with older stores being re-merchandised to accommodate these breaks. Fruit and vegetables are always in the first aisle of the store, as are bread and cakes.

Otherservices

In late October 2009 Lidl UK launched an DVD rental service 'Lidl Movies'^[2], undercutting Tesco DVD rental which had previously been the UK's cheapest online DVD rental service.

The service is powered by OutNow DVD rental which has previously been criticised for its poor customer service.^[3]

Criticism of Lidl's treatment of its staff

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 now available in English.^[4] Whilst 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 ^[5]and The Times ^[6]in the UK amongst other allegations have reported that Lidl spies on its workforce with cameras, makes extensive notes on employee behaviour, particularly focusing on attempting to sack female workers who might become pregnant and also forces staff at warehouses to do "piece-rate" work which is now illegal in the EU. Lidl management denied the charges. No public information is given on the Lidl website about how to contact Lidl senior management and the company hides its ownership structure behind an elaborate network of front companies.^[7] In Italy, in 2003, a judge in Savona sentenced Lidl for anti-union policies, a crime in that country.^[8]

In March 2008 the German news magazine "Stern" released a cover story reporting systematic surveillance of Lidl workers, including most intimate details of their private affairs.^[9][10][11]

Lidl's treatment of employees has further been illustrated by a former employee who has dedicated a website to show stories of past and present employees.[3]^[12]

Lidl has also come under criticism in the United Kingdom & Ireland for not allowing workers to join Unions.

Countries with Lidl branches

European countries in which Lidl is active

Current

Country	Number of Stores
Austria	180 [13]
Belgium	300 (approx)
Croatia	51 [14]
Denmark	52
Finland	130
France	1350
Germany	3004
Greece	200
Hungary	115
Ireland	106
Italy	510
Luxembourg	1
Malta	12 (5 opened 7 more to open by end of 2010 including 2 stores in Gozo)
Netherlands	400
Norway	Sold to Reitangruppen—now REMA 1000 stores.
Poland	70 [15]
Portugal	210
Slovakia	30
Slovenia	29 [16]
Spain	300
Sweden	151
Switzerland	13
United Kingdom	500 (approx)

Planned

Country	Opening	Notes
Romania [17]	2009 - 2010 (first to be opened in Bistriţa)
Bulgaria	2009 - 2010 (first to be opened in Lovech)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mexico
Canada [18]	2012
Montenegro	2011
Serbia	2015

Competitors

References

External links

• Official homepage (includes links to national sites)
• Yahoo! — Lidl & Schwarz Stiftung & Co. KG Company Profile
• Current stores number (German)
• Silvercrest - LIDL brand electronic product

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