Lidl, which has more than 270 discount stores in Romania is getting ready to take the top spot ten years after officially arriving on this market with the takeover of Plus Discount network in 2011.
“Judging from the performance in March-July (the first months of the 2020 fiscal year i.e.), I am confident we can become number one on the market,” the German executive says.
The company posted almost 10 billion lei sales in 2019, about 25% higher than in 2018.
The discount grocery retailer is growing faster than the market and competition. Lidl was the third leading retailer in Romania by last year’s results, behind Kaufland and Carrefour. Kaufland saw its sales up 9% and Carrefour (operating with four companies as a group) saw its sales up 11.5%, so Lidl narrowed the gap to the top two.
Lidl arrived in Romania in 2011 when it bought a 107-store chain and has been expanding at a rate o 15-20 stores a year ever since. The purchasing power is improving, which means the number of stores Lidl can open in Romania is rising, too. If the retailer goes to cities of 15,000 to 20,000 people, it still has room for development, Frank Wagner says. The next step is 300 stores and then 400 to 450 in the next five to seven years, he added.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)