Lidl has today opened six state-of-the-art stores nationwide as households gear up for Christmas.
Four new stores have opened in Shinfield, Bovey Tracey, Downham Market, and Stirchley. Alongside these, a new store in Connah’s Quay has replaced the old Lidl in the town, whilst its site in Chessington has reopened following a full refurbishment and extension. This represents a multi-million-pound investment, creating approximately 160 new jobs, with colleagues earning some of the highest wages in the sector.
This announcement follows four new stores opening last month in Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Ipswich, and Hoxton, and comes ahead of two further stores opening next week in Forest Gate and Caterham, all in time for Christmas. The openings form part of Lidl’s accelerated expansion plans which will see it open a further eight new stores at the start of 2024 followed by around 40 more in the next financial year.
As stores open across the country, Lidl has reported a surge in early demand for Christmas products. Sales of Deluxe British Pigs in Blankets are up by a over 100% already, whilst over 5 million Favorina Mince Pies have already been sold so far this year
.
Richard Taylor, chief development officer at Lidl GB, said: “As we head into December, opening six stores in a single day highlights the incredible momentum behind our expansion in our 30th year. This milestone reflects our unwavering commitment to delivering affordable, high-quality products to more households across the country, especially at a time of year when value matters most. Our teams are relentlessly pursuing expansion opportunities and, with every store we open, we’re taking another step towards making this vision a reality.”
Lidl’s growth is driven by strong performance, having been named the UK’s fastest-growing bricks-and-mortar supermarket consistently for over a year. Earlier this month, Lidl revealed that thanks to significant investments into infrastructure and upgrading stores, which have contributed to improved product freshness and an enhanced store experience, it secured 326,000 additional shoppers in the last financial year, more than any other supermarket2. During the same period, customers made 35 million more trips to Lidl, switching half a billion pounds of spend to the discounter – the highest growth in the UK grocery sector2.
