Lidl and Kaufland grow: More stores, more investments

Retail

Credits: Photo: Lidl

Retail chains Lidl and Kaufland opened several new stores. In financial year 2024/25, around 300 new locations were added worldwide, as announced by the Schwarz Group, to which the companies belong.

This continues the expansion. In recent years, Lidl and Kaufland had steadily expanded their store network. In total, they now operate around 14,200 stores in 32 countries.

The group, founded by Dieter Schwarz, also spent more: Despite the tense economic situation, it invested 8.6 billion euros - 7.5 percent more than in the previous year. Of this, 3.3 billion euros went to Germany. Accordingly, the money was primarily invested in store expansion, the expansion of warehouse locations and the capacity of data centres in Europe. In the current financial year, investments are expected to grow to 9.6 billion euros, of which 3.7 billion euros will be in Germany.

4,000 new jobs in germany

In parallel, the group created around 20,000 new jobs in all areas, 4,000 of which were in Germany. The total number of employees thus rose to around 595,000. Schwarz chief executive officer Gerd Chrzanowski said that even in a time of global uncertainty, they had been able to grow and continue to invest in Germany as a business location and in a digitally sovereign Europe.

At discount giant Lidl, revenues climbed by 5.3 percent to 132.1 billion euros. Kaufland achieved a turnover of 35.2 billion euros (plus 2.9 percent). The companies’ online sales stagnated, with a combined turnover of 1.7 billion euros. The group did not provide any information on earnings. The financial year lasts from the beginning of March to the end of February of the following year.

In April, Kaufland came under criticism after the “Stern” and the RTL programme “Team Wallraff” revealed hygiene deficiencies in several stores in Germany. These included manipulated expiry dates, defective freezers, mould and pest infestations. Kaufland temporarily closed two stores and announced a thorough cleaning of all German locations and the replacement of refrigeration equipment. In addition, the chain took personnel action and brought in external experts.

Almost all divisions with increased turnover

Overall, the Schwarz Group generated a turnover increase of 4.9 percent, landing at 175.4 billion euros. In addition to the two chains, the group's waste disposal and recycling company PreZero also contributed 3.9 billion euros to turnover. The IT and digital division achieved revenues of 1.9 billion euros, which was on par with the previous year.

On the other hand, the approximately 4.6 billion euros that ended up in the coffers of the in-house companies producing for Lidl and Kaufland are invoiced internally. The group has its own beverage producer and a bakery, among other things. A new nut roastery in Rheine also started operations last year.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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