“The latest openings were in Miercurea Ciuc and Blejoi on March 19, Iasi on March 26 and Urlati, April 2. The stores inaugurated in Urlati and Blejoi are the first Lidls in those towns. We are responding to the need of communities in smaller cities to get supplies at this time, considering the limited shopping options they have,” the officials of the German group say.
The decision to go to small cities is justified for a number of reasons. On the one hand, authorities recommend consumers to shop close to home. On the other, convenience is a trend that had been gaining ground in retail even before the current pandemic, as Romanian consumers started to prefer going to stores closer to their homes or offices and buy less, following the Western model.
Then there is the also the low competition in small cities of less than 15,000 people, where the competitors usually are the local stores.
“Over the last few years, we’ve had a constant expansion pace and the target we set for 2020 is at least 15 stores. So far inauguration of new stores has gone according to plan.”
Moreover, the Lidl officials say it is too early to talk about reconsidering expansion plans for 2020, without providing any figures.
Lidl posted almost RON10 billion (EUR2 billion) sales last year, up from RON7.8 billion in 2018.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)