LIDL is set to open hundreds of new stores across the UK,
The discount supermarket will soon welcome shoppers to new stores across the country, from Bristol in the West Country, Birmingham in the West Midlands and Berwick in Scotland.
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In London alone, where Lidl is now the third largest supermarket, it will be opening new stores in Wandsworth, Fulham, Hoxton and Canning Town.
Lidl has published a new list of desired locations for potential new stores.
The discount supermarket is eyeing major growth in cities, including:
- Edinburgh
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- London
- Woking
- Wadebridge
- Dumfries
- Didcot.
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Lidl said that it is looking for sites in prominent locations with easy access and strong pedestrian or traffic flow.
The site should be at least one and a half acres for a standalone store and up to four acres for mixed-use schemes.
Sites should allow for unit sizes between 18,000 and 26,500 sq ft and over 100 dedicated car parking spaces.
Lidl said it will also consider freehold, leasehold or long leasehold opportunities.
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Should a site be successfully identified, the discounter will pay a finders’ fee of either 1.5% of the total freehold purchase price or 10% of the first year’s rent for leaseholds, which would equate to £22,500 for a completed £1.5million site purchase.
Richard Taylor, chief development officer at Lidl GB, said: “We have also been the fastest growing bricks and mortar supermarket for the past seven months in a row.
“With an exceptional store network and our laser focus on operational excellence, we’re welcoming more customers through our doors than ever before, which positions us perfectly for continued expansion.
“We’re planning to open hundreds of new Lidl stores but ultimately see no ceiling on our ambition or growth potential.”
Five simple ways to save cash at Lidl
It comes just months after the discount supermarket chain said that it was looking for £91million in funding to help fund its expansion.
Lidl is looking for investors to build 12 supermarkets, which they can then lease to the supermarket chain to operate on their behalf.
Currently, only 20% of its roughly 960 UK stores are leasehold.
In a funding pitch seen by The Sun, Lidl is asking for the new stores to come with a 25-year lease.
These will then be subject to five yearly rent reviews based on open market values.
The pitch also details which 12 locations Lidl is looking to open new supermarkets.
These include:
- Alexandria
- Birmingham
- Bovey Tracey
- Bristol
- Crediton
- Downham Market
- Hull
- Manchester
- Northampton
- Reading
- Redcar
- Saffron Walden.
It’s important to note that the locations listed represent only potential sites.
You can find your nearest Lidl store by visiting www.lidl.co.uk/c/store-finder/s10023098.
The discount supermarket is in the process of making a major change to pricing tags in stores.
Lidl is switching from paper pricing tags to electronic shelf labels at all of its 960 branches.
It follows a trial at 35 Lidl stores including those in Epsom and Tooting.
The tiny digital screens will display all the information you’d usually expect to see on a label like the cost, weight and unit price.
All Lidl supermarkets will see the change rolled out by the end of this year.
It will gradually introduce the labels section by section over the coming months.
How to save on your supermarket shop
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
OTHER STORE OPENINGS
Several other major retailers are expanding their presence on UK high streets.
Aldi has announced that it will open 35 new UK stores.
The openings form part of Aldi‘s long-term target of 1,500 stores in the UK.
The supermarket is set to invest £550million in expanding its UK footprint this year alone.
Aldi said that each new store opening will create around 40 new jobs on average.
Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores in recent months as it looks to rival major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
B&M plans to open “not less than” 45 brand new stores across the UK in each of the next two consecutive years.
The parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) and Peacocks, Purepay Retail Limited, has said it wants to open 100 new high street stores over the next 18 months.
It has yet to give the exact locations where it will open the 100 stores or when they will open.
One of the UK’s favourite bakery chain, Greggs, has exclusively revealed to The Sun plans to open more outlet branches by the end of 2025.
Home Bargains, which was running just under 600 branches as of last June, has said it wants to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.
The major discounter has stopped short of saying when it wants to reach the 1,000 store target, however.
Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores nationwide as its owner, Kingfisher, seeks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.
The brand opened two new stores in March, and a further three new shops will open this month.
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Tesco has revealed plans to open 70 more stores across the UK over the next year as part of major expansion plans.
WHSmith has turned its focus to the travel side of its business, with plans to open new sites in airports, railway stations and hospitals.
