Lidl arrives

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Groceteria
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Lidl arrives

Post by Groceteria »

Opening day at the Winston-Salem NC store on Peters Creek Parkway.

ImageLidl (Winston-Salem NC) by Otherstream, on Flickr

ImageLidl (Winston-Salem NC) by Otherstream, on Flickr

ImageLidl (Winston-Salem NC) by Otherstream, on Flickr

ImageLidl (Winston-Salem NC) by Otherstream, on Flickr

ImageLidl (Winston-Salem NC) by Otherstream, on Flickr

ImageLidl (Winston-Salem NC) by Otherstream, on Flickr
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by wnetmacman »

That store looks to be pretty good sized, compared to what I was expecting. Can't wait until them or Aldi get to Louisiana...but that's another story.
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by architect »

Personally, I'm looking forward to Lidl's continued expansion. From what I can gather, their US marketing/merchandising strategy seems very price driven, yet their selections leans more upscale and extensive than Aldi. It will also be interesting to see how Aldi responds over the long haul.
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by BatteryMill »

With all their locations in the pipeline as of now, I'm best hoping these do not end up floundering at any given moment. Sure there may be a strong demand for such business at the moment, but who knows with the cost of overexpansion and rapid entry (see: Target Canada and hhgregg and the Circuit City aftermath).
I'm not too sure of the opening schedule as of now, but I would say these are somewhat more tony variations of Aldi stores. They are larger and more professional-looking from the pictures, however still running on a similar format in several characteristics.
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by storewanderer »

The key will be their ability to make nimble changes to adjust. They will either be customer friendly (make changes to what they have based on feedback) or they will take an approach of "this is us and we will not change" like Tesco did in the US.

Also of course the ability to actually turn a profit...

The format sounds good to me, I like the pictures, this is a lot better than I expected, but its ability to turn a profit? I am not sure.
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by architect »

storewanderer wrote:The key will be their ability to make nimble changes to adjust. They will either be customer friendly (make changes to what they have based on feedback) or they will take an approach of "this is us and we will not change" like Tesco did in the US.

Also of course the ability to actually turn a profit...

The format sounds good to me, I like the pictures, this is a lot better than I expected, but its ability to turn a profit? I am not sure.
Apparently, the Lidl US format has already been tweaked from its European counterpart based on focus groups and a prototype store in Fredericksurg, VA. For example, the typical "insert a quarter" system for carts has been eliminated in the US stores, chilled beer has been added, and private-label product packaging has been redesigned to imitate the packaging designs of primary competitors within the US. It will be interesting to see if Lidl is able to keep innovating though once they have a substantial fleet of stores to manage and upkeep.
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by pseudo3d »

I see several red flags:

- The "generic" packaging closely resembles real brands ("Fruit Flavored Snacks", "Oats", and probably some spin on Pop-Tarts) but I don't know if Lidl actually has manufacturing plants or is just relabeling other generic food stuffs that's the same as other store brands. If the latter, it costs more to print special packaging, cutting into profits, and if the former, then I hope they know what they're doing with their plant and it won't be a waste of time and money like Fresh & Easy was.

- A further monkey wrench would be the bakery department. Aldi has largely eschewed in-store bakeries so stores can be cheaper to operate, and when you throw in a full-service department, it becomes more expensive to operate, and it will have to get decent volume to stay profitable.

Depending on how they run it, it can be a real threat to Food Lion, or Food Lion can let Lidl destroy itself. Kind of a toss-up at this point, but the articles I read a while back about how people want smaller stores or something demonstrated a lack of knowledge about the U.S. grocery industry.
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by Knight »

Food Lion has allowed itself and other grocery retailers in varying grocery retail segments help destroy itself. Limited assortment/discount grocer Lidl is another participant working against supermarket Food Lion.
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by Ohio Man »

Groceteria wrote:Opening day at the Winston-Salem NC store on Peters Creek Parkway.

ImageLidl (Winston-Salem NC) by Otherstream, on Flickr

Thanks for the photos, Groceteria. "Best Food Forward"? Sheesh.......
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Re: Lidl arrives

Post by storewanderer »

They did a good job copying a lot of people.

Price to live better? Partial copy of Wal Mart's slogan. And the "better" looks like a Publix "B A K E R Y" fixture.
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