Discount food retailer Lidl is plotting an ambitious expansion drive that will result in it more than doubling in size in Britain, with its UK managing director claiming that grocery shopping in the country is entering a “new era”.
In his first ever newspaper interview, Ronny Gottschlich said the retailer wants to expand from 600 stores at present to up to 1,500. He said that “Maidstone Mums”, once too embarrassed to be seen in the shops, now realise that it is good value and quality. “Those times are over. We are now a supermarket. We offer the best quality for the least.”
“We really see ourselves these days as more of a supermarket than the hard discounter of the past,” Mr Gottschlich said.
The move will come as a blow to Tesco, which has been struggling to improve its performance against discount retailers that are increasing customers rapidly. In contrast to Tesco, Lidl says its like-for-like sales are growing by 18pc year-on-year and that a quarter of its shoppers are now from the A and B socio-economic groups.
Backed by the firepower of its German parent company, Schwarz Group, Lidl plans to spend £170m this year on opening new stores and installing bakeries within its existing sites. “The Maidstone Mum is someone who probably previously would have thought, 'I can’t be seen in a Lidl store’. Those Maidstone Mums are no longer afraid of being seen in a Lidl store.”
