Lidl Plans First Two Stores in DC Region in Prince George's County (Baltimore: real estate, credit card)

[CBMD]

Originally Posted by UrbanScholar

I would have preferred that they place their U.S. HQ in PG instead.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...dquarters.html

Never gonna happen. Va is much too biz friendly. They were looking at Frederick County for a distribution center, but that seems to have gone to Spotsylvania and also North Carolina.

[sebastiannight]

Originally Posted by pcity

That might be a slight exaggeration but it's no secret that Lidl is targeting poorer shoppers. They are a "hard discount" supermarket much like Aldi. While Aldi has become more popular with middle class shoppers over time, I'm sure their main customer base is still the less well-off.

Lidl was never a hard discounter like Aldi (maybe 30 years ago). Lidl has a significant wider selection and much more name brand products. They have a really nice bakery department and compared to Aldi a nicer produce section and much more international food specialties. In the last couple of years Lidl has made huge improvements. Of course they are targeting all income groups.
In Germany Aldi is more popular among retirees whereas Lidl is more popular among younger families. People from all income brackets shop at both chains.

[sebastiannight]

Originally Posted by pcity

In Europe, absolutely both Aldi and Lidl are mainstream. Here they are still perceived as places where the poor shop, even though they've made some inroads with the middle class.

Yes, that seems to be true. The perception of Aldi in the U.S. is still somewhat comparable to the perception of Aldi in Germany 30 years ago. Now people from all income brackets shop at Aldi. Most people shop at discount grocery stores like Aldi or Lidl AND at upscale grocery stores like Edeka or Rewe.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lidl US will be very successfull with their different approach.
The appearance of the stores will be more upscale, somewhat like Harris Teeter. They will have many international food specialties, somewhat like Trader Joe's. And the prices will be very similar to the Aldi prices.

[WhoDatInMD]

I've heard Lidl described as a mashup of Trader Joe's and Walmart/IKEA. Who knows until it's up and operating but maybe it will fill a void needed in Bowie and PG County as a whole. It still would've been nice to get a Trader Joe's though. One would've been perfect in the new Bowie Marketplace, regardless of how close it is to the Aldi a few mins away.

[sebastiannight]

Originally Posted by WhoDatInMD

I've heard Lidl described as a mashup of Trader Joe's and Walmart/IKEA. Who knows until it's up and operating but maybe it will fill a void needed in Bowie and PG County as a whole. It still would've been nice to get a Trader Joe's though. One would've been perfect in the new Bowie Marketplace, regardless of how close it is to the Aldi a few mins away.

I guess your information was from this article:

Lidl German American Debut

It's a very misleading article. Lidl has a few weekly changing non food items (clothing or tools for example), but there are fewer of those goods than you can typically find at Aldi. Lidl operates an online shop, where they offer furniture, clothing, appliances and so on.

Lidl in the U.S. will be more like a mashup of Harris Teeter, Trader Joe's and Aldi.
Compared to Aldi, the outward appearance of a Lidl store will be much more upscale. More like a boutique grocery store, more like the outward appearance of a Harris Teeter store. The sales area of a Lidl store will be at least double the size of an Aldi store.
Lidl will surely offer a lot more European food specialties than Aldi. Lidl operates in much more European countries than Aldi. Lidl is surely able to source more European products. And Lidl offers more prepared food products. That reminds maybe more to Trader Joe's.
The prices at Lidl are very similar to the Aldi prices.

The main difference to Aldi is probably the size of the store and that the store will look more upscale. It seems that Lidl tries to avoid this negative perception that many Americans have with the Aldi stores. Both, Aldi and Lidl are experimenting with more upscale stores.

[CBMD]

Aldi have been in the US, HQ in Illinois since 1976. They are conservative by nature, and were content to open 30 stores a year until the 2008 financial crisis hit. Then they started to ramp up, and are now just entering the California markets. They plan to have about 2,000 stores by 2018. When they entered the Houston market they said their goal was about 30 stores, and they opened 13 on one day. 2,000 stores will give them about 2-2.5% of the US grocery market after 40 years.

Contrast that with what both Aldi and Lidl have done in the UK and Irish markets in a much shorte period of time.

They entered the UK in 1992, and Ireland in 1999, and now have built strong positions despite the same concerns about poor quality shoddy image etc. Both now have about 5% each of the UK market, and 9% each of the Irish market. They compete intensely with each other, and I think you'll see the same here when Lidl are up and running. Was in Best Buy recently and noticed an Aldi ad on one of the TVs.

They are credited with forcing Walmart to abandon the German market. Now Aldi have stores in Arkansas.

Aldi and Lidl reach 10 per cent share of the British grocer Kantar Worldpanel
The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 8 November 2015, show the combined share of ...

Kantar Worldpanel Irish Grocery Share Data September 2015 - Kantar UK - Kantar



You know you've arrived when.....

Armed gang robs Lidl in north Cork, ties up staff member
A robbery by an armed gang on a Lidl supermarket in Cork over the weekend during which a female staff member was tied up is being investigated by ...



Aldi, Lidl UK market share now tops 10%: Kantar MarketWatch
LONDON--The joint market share of discount German retailers Aldi and Lidl has reached 10% of the British grocery market for the first time, compared ..

Soaring sales at Aldi and Lidl push market share to 10% - The Guardian
Aldi and Lidl double market share in three years - BBC News
Aldi and Lidl continue to march ahead of big four rivals - The Guardian

[CBMD]

Aldi and Lidl are currently running these two holiday advs on British TV. Very different. Aldi traditional, Lidl edgier.

Aldi



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6qx7U_SuQE


Lidl



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4jwTtGLZEg

Edit to Add: By grocery store standards they are quite sophisticated, no mention of prices or bargains, people are expected to know that. Instead, an appeal to a more upscale shopper, that we're an acceptable alternative to the traditional grocery store.

[uggabugga]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Have no fear, with 10 stores in PG County, this article mentions that 80 are planned in the DC region. They all can't be placed in perceived low-income areas.



Also....



Forbes Welcome

I am told that the company has already selected 80 locations in the Greater Washington, D.C. area and plans to open over 500 stores in 2018.

wow, that's ambitious.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by uggabugga

wow, that's ambitious.

I'll say. They've never experienced good ole American NIMBYISM.

[WhoDatInMD]

Originally Posted by sebastiannight

I guess your information was from this article:

Lidl German American Debut

It's a very misleading article. Lidl has a few weekly changing non food items (clothing or tools for example), but there are fewer of those goods than you can typically find at Aldi. Lidl operates an online shop, where they offer furniture, clothing, appliances and so on.

Lidl in the U.S. will be more like a mashup of Harris Teeter, Trader Joe's and Aldi.
Compared to Aldi, the outward appearance of a Lidl store will be much more upscale. More like a boutique grocery store, more like the outward appearance of a Harris Teeter store. The sales area of a Lidl store will be at least double the size of an Aldi store.
Lidl will surely offer a lot more European food specialties than Aldi. Lidl operates in much more European countries than Aldi. Lidl is surely able to source more European products. And Lidl offers more prepared food products. That reminds maybe more to Trader Joe's.
The prices at Lidl are very similar to the Aldi prices.

The main difference to Aldi is probably the size of the store and that the store will look more upscale. It seems that Lidl tries to avoid this negative perception that many Americans have with the Aldi stores. Both, Aldi and Lidl are experimenting with more upscale stores.

If Lidl is successful with opening 80 locations in the DC metro area and their prices are indeed on par with Aldi's, then the Aldi's & Lidl combination will severely cripple Walmart in the region. I've already found myself going to Aldi now for basic food staples instead of Walmart. If Lidl carries the same types of products that I only get at Walmart now for a cheaper price, then I would have no need to go to Walmart anymore.