LIDL DISCOUNT SUPER STORES SUPERMARKET CHAIN

A Typical Lidl store - simple and no frills - but then their customers want food at good prices. You can't have value and charm. If you want that go to Harrods. But don't forget to take your cheque book.

LIDL is a supermarket chain that as of 2019 uses plastic in their packaging, some of which ends up on beaches and in rivers where it may be washed out to sea to join millions of tons of floating plastic in five gyres.

Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (formally Schwarz Unternehmens Treuhand KG) is a German global discount supermarket chain, based in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, that operates over 10,000 stores across Europe. It belongs to the holding company Schwarz Gruppe, which also owns the store chains Handelshof and hypermarket Kaufland.

Lidl is the chief competitor of the similar German discount chain Aldi.

The company was founded in the 1930s by a member of the Schwarz family, and was called Schwarz Lebensmittel-Sortimentsgroßhandlung (Schwarz Assorted Wholesale Foods). Lidl has since its opening in 1973 established itself in over 20 countries throughout Europe.

The name Lidl is the surname of a former business partner of Josef Schwarz's, Ludwig Lidl, a retired schoolteacher, and Josef's son Dieter Schwarz bought the rights to the name from him for 1,000 German Marks, as he could not use the name Schwarz Markt; schwarzmarkt means "black market". Lidl is part of the Schwarz Group, the fifth-largest retailer in the world with sales of $82.4 billion (2011).

In 1930, Josef Schwarz became a partner in Südfrüchte Großhandel Lidl & Co., a fruit wholesaler, and he developed the company into a general food wholesaler. In 1977, under his son Dieter Schwarz, the Schwarz-Gruppe began to focus on discount markets, larger supermarkets, and cash and carry wholesale markets. The first Lidl discount store was opened in 1973, copying the Aldi concept. Schwarz rigorously removed merchandise that did not sell from the shelves, and cut costs by keeping the size of the retail outlets as small as possible. By the year 1977, the Lidl chain comprised 33 discount stores.

Since launching in the UK in 1994, Lidl has grown consistently and today has more than 580 UK stores. While it is still a small player in the UK with a grocery market share of less than 5%, its importance along with that of continental no-frills competitor Aldi is growing.

If you are struggling to bring up a family on a limited budget, you will find it hard to beat Lidl's soft and energy drinks for value. We have tried them and like the orange and energy drink. We're not so sure about the fruit juices. As with any supermarket, you need to try products for yourself. This is only our opinion.

FAO: Matthew Heslop
Chief Operating Officer
LIDL Great Britain Limited (02816429)
19 Worple Road, Wimbledon
London, SW19 4JS

"On the 7th of June I purchased food items, including four scotch eggs, from your Eastbourne Store. I have been a regular customer at this store for over six years and frequently buy this product, when in stock.

On Monday evening, Tuesday the 12th of June at around 7:00pm, I attempted to eat the last of the four scotch eggs, reeling in pain after I felt a tooth crack from something solid in the product that was hard and sharp enough to cause this tooth to sheer almost in half during the bite. Please see the attached photographs, including the packaging and receipt. I was about to watch a film, but the whole evening was ruined.

Fortunately, I stopped chewing almost immediately and spat out the mouthful of egg mix, along with some of my tooth. I have saved some of this mouthful in a refrigerator, as evidence for examination should that be necessary. It may also be necessary to examine the production line where this product is made and packaged.

I have attended my dentist to explore the options and will be attending again to see a specialist. I am hoping that you will not want to make my experience any more traumatic than it already is by agreeing to settle my costs in relation to repairing this tooth, where your product was on this occasion, not of merchantable quality.

Should you be agreeable to settling the cost of putting me back in the condition I was in before the incident, I will not be asking for damages for pain and discomfort. In that case I would be prepared to settle on a full and final basis and without prejudice to a potential claim of breach of contract or corporate negligence, if we can agree the matter diligently.

If you would be so kind as to indicate if this proposal to settle amicably is acceptable, I will present the bill from my dentist in due course for payment, or otherwise give the appropriate instructions for recovery. I hope, of course, that litigation will not be necessary and look forward to hearing from you at your very earliest convenience in the spirit of cooperation; anticipating a positive response."

Yours sincerely,

A (claimant in person)

c.c Klaus Gehrig
The Chairman
Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG
Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg
Germany

The Chief Executive
LIDL Limited
19 Worple Road
London
SW19 4JS

Dear Sir or Madam:

One of our operatives was in one of your store in Eastbourne (St Anthony’s Road, A259, BN23 6NJ) and asked to give his car number plate licence number, which was linked to his purchase (hence credit card, etc) by virtue of timing. This is private information that was entered into a digital database.

Consequently, that information is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998. When our operative asked for the store's data controller. The stand in manager, Spencer, said that they did not have one. He gave Andrew Herbert's name, who was not available.

When asked what happened to all of these customer details, nobody knew.

When asked why the system did not automatically erase customer details once they drove out of the car park. Nobody knew. Yet, customers details are recorded digitally via camera.

Other stores operate a system where information is not digitally stored, or if it is on a temporary basis, it is then erased and there is an audit trail to prove it. You appear to have no audit trail, hence it appears that you are breaching Data Protection law - unless, you can show otherwise.

A number of customers expressed their dissatisfaction at being asked to provide this information, and were clearly distressed. That invokes Section 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Hence, we are asking you for a formal explanation as to what happens to this computer stored information, that appears to be linked to cameras that operate in the car park? This is required for you to comply with Section 21 of the Act.

Could you also tell us who your Data Controller is and the date of his/her appointment, such that, if necessary we might pass these details to the Information Commissioner.

We will be reporting this complaint and your reply on this webpage:

http://www.solarnavigator.net/solar_cola/super_markets_stores/lidl.htm

In doing so we ensure that you have the right of reply, and are given the opportunity to put things right at no charge, and/or to explain matters to us in the interests of transparency.

We are an environmental charity, which is mainly to do with sustainable energy and systems, but also to ensure that convention rights are observed.

Could you please treat this matter as one of some urgency, in any event confirming safe receipt of this Request on a return basis.

Yours Faithfully,

for Max Energy Ltd (a not for profit concern)

By email and Recorded Post

c.c Klaus Gehrig
The Chairman
Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG
Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg
Germany

Dear Lidl Customer

Re: Your Contact

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Your feedback is valuable and we appreciate your patience whilst we look into your comments.

We have passed these details to the relevant department and we will contact you again once we receive their response.

We take great pride in selling high quality products at competitive prices and providing customers with an excellent service. Comments and suggestions from our customers help us to maintain the high standards we aim for.

We will be in touch in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

For and on behalf of Lidl UK GmbH

Hollie Brown
Customer Service
Tel – 0370 444 1234
Email - customer.services@lidl.co.uk

RETAIL APPROACH

Like fellow German supermarket Aldi, Lidl has a no-frills approach of displaying most of its products in their original delivery cartons, allowing the customers to take the product directly from the carton. When the carton is empty, it is simply replaced with a full one. Staffing is minimal, so that a profit can still be made even though the prices are low. Together with Aldi, Lidl has carved out its own niche with this approach. In contrast to Aldi, there are generally more branded products on offer and while Lidl imports many low-priced gourmet foods from Europe, it also sources many local products from the country where the store is located. Like Aldi, Lidl has special weekly offers, and its stock of non-food items often changes with time. Lidl operates in most European countries e.g. much of Eastern Europe, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. In contrast to Aldi, Lidl advertises extensively in its homeland of Germany.

Anyone who has shopped at a Lidl store will recognize the layout. We found the vegetables to be fresh and of good quality.

CRITICS

Trade unions in Germany and other countries have repeatedly criticised Lidl for mistreatment of workers, breach of European directives on working time and other abuses. These have been published in the Black Book on the Schwarz Retail Company published in Germany and are now also available in English. While The Times notes that Lidl managers work excessive hours, being obliged to sign out of the Working Time Directive when starting with the company, both The Guardian and The Times in the UK amongst other allegations have reported that Lidl spies on its workforce with cameras, makes extensive notes on employee behaviour, particularly focusing on attempting to sack female workers who might become pregnant and also forces staff at warehouses to do "piece-rate" work. Lidl management has denied the charges. In Italy, in 2003, a judge in Savona sentenced Lidl for anti-union policies, a crime in that country. Lidl has been criticised in the United Kingdom and Ireland for not allowing workers to join unions.

In March 2008, the German news magazine Stern released a cover story reporting systematic surveillance of Lidl workers, including the most intimate details of their private affairs.

In November 2014, Staff at Lidl supermarkets are being stopped from speaking any language other than English in their UK stores - including Welsh. The Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith) said the policy was "appalling". Its chairman, Jamie Bevan, added that "since the Welsh language bill was passed four years ago, it is illegal to stop staff from speaking to customers in Welsh".

A number of supermarket chains produce their own cola drinks which they display with some prominence. They also stock the leading brands. However, do they stock smaller label brands in the spirit of fair competition? Do they have a fair trade policy?

If you fancy trying a different cola, a cola with more in it, more healthy ingredients, a cola company that cares about the environment - that supports environmental projects, you're in luck. But does your supermarket stock Solar Cola?

RETAILER

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN

SUPERMARKET and RESTAURANT LINKS :

Aldi - Discount supermarket chain Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and the USA.

Aldi (UK) (discount supermarket chain) This UK site includes details of current weekly special offers (with an option to subscribe to a free email newsletter), store locations and new additions to the range of regular products.

Asda (UK supermarket chain) This UK supermarket chain was originally established by Associated Dairies, hence the name, but recently taken over by Wal-Mart.

Auchan (hypermarket chain) This hypermarket chain is based in France but also has a few stores in other countries, including the USA.

Big W (UK hypermarket chain) Part of Woolworths, with similar store layout and range of good to the US KMart, Pamida, ShopKo, Wal-Mart, etc.

Boots or Boots (UK retail chain) Originally a chemists, Boots now also sell a wide range of goods.

Carrefour (supermarket chain) This supermarket chain is based in France but also has a large number of stores in several other European countries and other parts of the world.

Co-Op Stores (UK) (UK retail chain) This site covers the UK Co-op's supermarkets and other shops. There are separate Co-op organisations in some other European countries.

Farmfoods (UK supermarket chain) This chain sells mainly but by no means exclusively frozen food.

Kwik Save (UK supermarket chain) A few years ago the Kwik Save chain was purchased by Somerfield.

Lidl (UK) (European deep discount supermarket chain) Includes details of store locations, weekly specials, price reductions and a facility to subscribe to a weekly specials email newsletter.

Makro (UK hypermarket chain) This chain is part of the German Metro group, a "cash and carry" for trade customers only. However, in practice it is very nearly a normal shop at normal proces.

Netto (UK) (discount supermarket chain) Includes details of locations and current special offers, and links to Netto sites in other countries featuring 'Smart Shopping'. By taking a no frills approach and cutting out all those unnecessary extras, we can offer you premium quality at the lowest prices in Britain. By only paying for what you want and nothing else we can give today’s busy customer a different and fresh alternative to grocery shopping. And most importantly of all, save you time and money, every day of every week.

Range, The (UK retail chain) This chain has a small number of large stores with a layout similar to K-Mart and Wal-Mart, but UK prices.

Safeway (UK supermarket chain) Most of Safeway's 479 supermarkets in Britain have now been acquired by Morrison's, hence may be re-branded.

WH Smith (UK retail chain) - WH Smiths sells books, magazines, stationary items.

Subway (UK) - The Subway submarine sandwich chain has 150 locations in UK & Ireland

Wimpy's (UK fast food restaurant chain) Includes details of menu items and a restaurant locator, but no prices.

Compensation for failure to comply with certain requirements.

(1) An individual who suffers damage by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for that damage.

(2) An individual who suffers distress by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for that distress if—

(a) the individual also suffers damage by reason of the contravention, or

(b) the contravention relates to the processing of personal data for the special purposes.

(3) In proceedings brought against a person by virtue of this section it is a defence to prove that he had taken such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to comply with the requirement concerned.