Re: German chain Lidl sets eyes on Virginia, Carolinas
Posted: February 26th, 2017, 5:21 pm
Venture's strategy was quite similar to that of the company it was copied from, Target, and for good reason. They shared John Geisse in common. Venture was in the process of backfilling the area between Dallas/Houston/OKC and St. Louis when they ran into financial issues. Geisse's main job was to emulate for May what had been done earlier for Dayton Hudson.pseudo3d wrote:Leapfrogging is dangerous, too, in the early 1990s, rather than try to repair their base in the Midwest, Venture went into Texas, built a huge new distribution center in Corsicana, Texas, and built stores in Houston and Dallas. It ended up sinking the entire chain.Knight wrote:Lidl is taking a risk leapfrogging into Texas. Grocery retailers that have leapfrogged have struggled to the point of closing stores and exiting markets.
Leapfrogging can be successful if done correctly. Safeway has operated in DC for more than 50 years, with the closest original division in Little Rock. Winn Dixie did it via acquisition in Texas, and that ran for almost 30 years.