Quote:
Originally Posted by momtothree
Just heard that Lidl is coming to the US. I remember going to their store in London when I visited there. I know they won't have the same items (SHUCKS!) but I am curious how they will appear here and what brands they will carry etc.
Have you heard the news? This thread title is what the headlines of the article I read. I know the main difference is the bakery. I hope Lidl keeps the bakery for their US stores!
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I am pretty sure that they will bring their bakery into their US stores. Lidl is at the moment on an upswing due to the bakery section. Aldi-Süd can't compete with that, because they use stupid automats for the baked goods. They already know that the introduction of those automats was a mistake. Probably the biggest mistake of Aldi-Süd so far. At the moment they are testing alternative concepts for the baked goods in some stores.
Some differences of Lidl in Germany compared to Aldi-Süd:
Lidl offers more name brand products than Aldi, they also have a wider and better selection of produce. In contrast to the U.S. Aldi in Germany don't offer any weekly sales with the exception of a few produce items. Lidl has always the exact same prices like Aldi. But Lidl in Germany has weekly sales. For example a package of 6 store brand ice cream bars (the Magnum style, don't know whether this brand is sold in the U.S.) cost €1.99 at every grocery store, but at Lidl you find sometimes XXL packages with 8 ice cream bars for 1.99. Lidl in Germany is actually cheaper than Aldi.
Hourly wages at Lidl in Germany are higher than at all other grocery chains but lower than those at Aldi-Süd. Starting hourly wage for marginally employed people at Lidl is €11.50. As far as I know hourly wages at Aldi-Süd starts at €13.xx for temporary staff. Almost all employees at Aldi-Süd have a completed 2 or 3 years professional training. Lidl has much more semi-skilled employees. They are still well trained, better than those at other discount grocery chains, but by far not that well like the employees from Aldi-Süd. A 17 years old apprentice from Aldi-Süd with just 1 year of work experience is faster and much more stress-resistent than someone with 10 years work experience at other grocery chain stores. The employees are the biggest asset of Aldi-Süd.
Aldi stores are often better located than Lidl stores, that's probably a result of the earlier spread of Aldi stores over Germany, compared to Lidl. Aldi stores here in Germany are also often located directly near an upscale traditional grocery store. Both stores normally benefit from the increased customer traffic.
I am not sure about the quality of the store brand products. There are products that I like better at Lidl, others I like better at Aldi. According to tests by a well known German consumer organization the generic brands of both chains often beat the most expensive name brands in quality. Overall I have the feeling that the quality at Aldi is slightly better than the quality at Lidl.
Sales per store in Germany in 2014:
Aldi-Süd: €8.38m
Lidl: €6.34m
Aldi-Nord: €5.05m
Top 6 Discounter Deutschland 2015 - Rankings - Lebensmittel Zeitung
At the moment Lidl attracts many pupils, that head into Lidl for the bakery during the school breaks. At this time the stores are often full with pupils.
It seams to be that the sizes of Lidl stores in the U.S. will be about 36,000 sq ft. That would be at least double the size of an average Aldi store in the U.S. and nearly the size of a Walmart Neighborhood store. It seems clear that Lidl will offer a much wider selection than Aldi. Probably much more name brands, a much larger produce section, and of course the bakery section. Lidl will maybe more like a small traditional grocery store, but surely without a service counter department for meat or cheese. It will be interesting whether they are able to offer the same prices like Aldi in the U.S. A wider selection means normally higher costs.
At the beginning Lidl will surely import many products from European suppliers. That will be cheaper at the beginning until they have a few hundred stores in the U.S. Especially if the exchange rate between the USD and the Euro will stay at the current level. They have already contacted their suppliers whether they are able to supply them in the U.S. Lidl operates some factories for chocolate, baked goods, meat, mineral water and soft drinks in Germany. Aldi operates only 4 coffee-roasting establishments in Germany.
Maybe Lidl stores in the U.S. will have a small section with imported European food specialities. Lidl operates in 26 European countries and already offers food specialities from other European countries in their stores.
As far as I know they start with the U.S. HQ in Arlington and two distribution centers, one in Alamance County (NC) and one in Spotsylvania County (VA). Each distribution center will probably be able to support 80-100 stores. I had thought, that they will start with only one distribution center. I am a little bit shocked about the construction costs for a distribution center in the U.S. The construction of a 40,000m² distribution center in Germany cost about €40m. Walmart builds same sized distribution centers in the U.S. for about $80m.
There was a food price comparison between Aldi, Walmart and Krogers in Columbus (OH). I tried to compare the prices from Aldi in the U.S. to the prices at Aldi in Germany. At an exchange rate of 1 Euro = 1.40 USD the cost for a basket of food items would be the same between Aldi (US) and Aldi (Germany). It will be interesting whether Lidl is able to offer the same prices like Aldi.
I find it also interesting to compare prices at Lidl stores in different European countries by their national websites, it's easy due to the Euro. And of course what food they sell in different countries.
The ice cream bars I mentioned before are at the moment on sale at Lidl in Finland for €2.59, the normal price at Lidl in Finland is €3.59 compared to €1.99 in Germany. And the price for the "Kinder Riegel" in Finland is even more shocking. And as far as I know Lidl in Finland is already cheaper than their main competitors.
alkaen torstai, 25.06. - Lidl
But to put into perspective, Finnish incomes are probably higher than German ones.
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