Lidl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG | |
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| Type | German Multi-National |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930s |
| Headquarters | Neckarsulm, Germany |
| Key people | Dieter Schwarz, Chairman and CEO Gunter Fergen CEO Michael Dönherp CFO |
| Industry | Retail (Grocery) |
| Products | Mainly own brand, with a few larger brands |
| Revenue | 49.104 billion USD (2004)[1] |
| Slogan | Where quality is cheaper |
| Website | www.lidl.com (in German) |
Lidl is a European discount supermarket chain of German origin that operates 5,000 stores. In Germany it is Aldi's main competitor. The full name of the company is Lidl Stiftung & Co KG. It belongs to the holding company Schwarz, which also owns the store chains Handelshof and Kaufland.
Lidl has established itself in over 17 countries.
It was founded in the 1930s by a member of the Schwarz family, then called Schwarz Lebensmittel-Sortimentsgrosshandlung. In the 1970s the first Lidl stores of today's incarnation opened.
Lidl is not an abbreviation, but the last 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, Lidl&Schwarz 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. In 1977, the Lidl chain comprised 30 discount stores. Dieter Schwarz’ problem was that he could not just start using the Lidl name. As Schwarz Markt (Black Market) did not seem as a good idea, he bought the right to use the Lidl name from Ludwig for 1000 marks.
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[edit] Dispute over pronounciation
Some people believe that lidl is pronounces lid-el which has basically been proven wrong as most television ads have a song that clearly says lee-dull
[edit] Countries with Lidl branches
[edit] Current
- Austria
- Belgium
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- The Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
[edit] Planned
- Canada [2]
- Bulgaria (postponed as of May 2006) [3]
- Latvia[citation needed]
- Lithuania[citation needed]
- Romania (postponed as of May 2006) [4]
- Slovenia[citation needed]
- Switzerland[citation needed]
[edit] Competitors
- Aldi (7,000 stores)
- Netto (1,200 stores)
- Kwiksave (UK only)
- Save-A-Lot (1,150 stores, USA only)
- Penny-Markt (Europe) [5]
- Plus [6]
- Dia % (Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil)
[edit] See also
Freeway Energy Drink
[edit] External links
[edit] Official homepage
- Official homepage (in German)
[edit] Official homepages in other languages
- Croatian (Hrvatska)
- Danish (Danmark)
- Dutch (Nederland)
- Dutch-French (België-Belgique)
- English (Great Britain)
- English (Northern Ireland)
- English (Republic of Ireland)
- Finnish (Suomi)
- French (France)
- Greek (Greece)
- Hungarian (Magyarország)
- Italian (Italia)
- Norwegian (Norge)
- Polish (Polska)
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Spanish (Spain)
- Swedish (Sverige)
- German French Italian (Switzerland)
- Slovak (Slovensko)
[edit] Data
[edit] Criticisms
- Every Lidl Hurts
- Ver.di's black book (German)
- Maggots found in Lidl canned goods
- Shop is a mouse trap
- Lidl fined for Safety Offences
- Lidl blocked Emergency exits
- Lidl fined for selling unsafe pushchair
- Lidl fined over mislabelled meat
- Lidl fined for breaking EU regulations
- Lidl demanded that Czech and Polish women workers wear special headbands during their monthly periods
- German hard discounter exposed as bad employer and threat to consumers and suppliers
- Lidl staff ‘Afraid to Complain’?
