Lidl

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Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG
Type German Multi-National
Founded 1930s
Headquarters Neckarsulm, Germany
Key people Dieter Schwarz, Chairman and CEO
Gunter Swartz 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
Lidl in Middlesbrough, England
Lidl in Middlesbrough, England
Lidl in Lomma, Sweden
Lidl in Lomma, Sweden
Typical Lidl interior
Typical Lidl interior

Lidl is a European discount supermarket chain of German origin that operates 7,000 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's problem was that he could not just start using the Lidl name. As Schwarz Markt (literally Black Market) did not seem a good idea, he bought the right to use the Lidl name from Ludwig for 1000 Deutsche Mark[citation needed].

It has become an iconic shop for low earners because of its mainly low pricing and as such is sometimes joked about.

Contents

[edit] Dispute over pronunciation

There is some dispute of the pronunciation of the name Lidl.[citation needed] Many people believe that it is pronounced /ˈlɪdəl/ "lid-el";[citation needed] however most television advertisements for the chain contain a jingle pronouncing the Store's name /ˈliːdəl/ "lee-dell", which is the German pronunciation. This dispute may have arisen because many of Lidl's European business activities are coordinated (especially customer support centres) from Livingston in the West Lothian district of Scotland.

[edit] Criticism of Lidl treatment of 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.[2] The Guardian in the UK amongst other allegations has 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.[3] In Italy, in 2003, a judge in Savona sentenced Lidl for anti-union policies, a crime in that country.[4]

In March 2008 the German news magazine Der Stern came up with a cover story reporting systematic surveillance of Lidl workers, including most intimate details of their private affairs.[5][6][7]

[edit] Countries with Lidl branches

[edit] Current

Lidl activities
Lidl activities

[edit] Planned

[edit] Competitors

[edit] References

  1. ^ Aldi abgehängt? (German). SPIEGEL Online (2006-01-16). Retrieved on 2006-01-17.
  2. ^ Black Book on Lidl in English (pdf).
  3. ^ "Cheap - but not so cheerful? An analysis of Lidl.", The Guardian, March 14 2007. 
  4. ^ (Italian)"Il tribunale di Savona condanna Lidl Italia per comportamento antisindacale", Il Magazine, 9 July 2003. 
  5. ^ (German)stern.de - Überwachungsskandal bei Lidl (video)
  6. ^ (German)stern.de - Entsetzen über Lidls Stasi-Methoden
  7. ^ (German)stern.de - Zitate aus den Lidl-Protokollen
  8. ^ (Romanian) Meciul dintre discounterii Aldi si Lidl se muta in arena romaneasca. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  9. ^ Every Lidl Hurts (March 2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  10. ^ (Bulgarian) Германската верига 'Лидл' замразява проекта си в България. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  11. ^ (German) Immobiliengesuche Schweiz. Lidl Schweiz. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.

[edit] External links

[edit] Corporate site

[edit] Data

[edit] Critical references

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