What Is Lidl?

Groceries are expensive these days, and it seems like they’re only getting pricier. I sent my assistant to the store last week to stock up on my usual caviar and wagyu and they could barely even pay for it. So it makes sense that discount grocery stores are gaining popularity with new ones popping up seemingly out of the blue. You may have noticed a new little store called Lidl. What is Lidl? How do you pronounce Lidl? Who owns Lidl? Are Aldi and Lidl related? Is Lidl German? Let’s learn a lil’ about Lidl!

What is Lidl?

Lidl is a popular German international discount grocery store—but it’s not limited to Germany. There are over 12,000 Lidl grocery stores across the globe. It’s still new to us Americans, though. Lidl only began to penetrate the U.S. market around 2018. And even then, the store has focused on opening locations on the east coast. 

How do you pronounce Lidl?

Lidl is not that hard to pronounce. I know the name looks like it’s missing some letters or something but it’s German so give it a break. Lidl is pronounced LEE-dul. If you need more help in pronouncing Lidl, it’s closer to needle, not fiddle. 

Who owns Lidl?

Lidl was officially started in Germany in 1932 by Josef Schwarz. Back then, the company was more of a general food wholesaler. In 1977, Josef’s son Dieter Schwarz focused the company on discount supermarkets. He didn’t want to use his own last name since Schwarz-Markt in German literally means “black market.” So they went with his father’s business partner’s last name, Lidl. Although, because of some German law, they couldn’t really use the business partner’s name, so to get around that they bought the rights to a retired schoolteacher’s name, Ludwig Lidl, and used that. Germans are weird. 

Are Aldi and Lidl related?

Aldi and Lidl are not related. Although they are both discount grocery stores from Germany, they aren’t related to each other. I totally get where the confusion comes from, though. There are two old German guys that live in my apartment building and I always assume they’re related. But nope, they don’t even know each other. 

Aldi entered the discount supermarket game first, back around 1961. Lidl took Aldi’s approach and copied it to great success. The stores were kept small and focused on the store brand of many essentials. Things that weren’t popular were quickly replaced on the shelves by things that sold. Although, to differentiate themselves when they entered the U.S. market, Lidl opened stores that were larger than their other markets. The average U.S. Lidl is around 14,000-21,000 square feet, compared to Aldi’s 10,000 square feet. 

Lidl has had a rougher go in the U.S. than elsewhere because there are already a number of discount grocers established here. But customers seem to love Lidl’s weekly Wednesday discounts, their bakery, their reliable store brand, and fresh flowers. This all sounds good, but I’ll stick to my usual way of getting groceries. One of the German guys in my apartment complex leaves his door unlocked and I stock up from his fridge. 


About the Author

Will Morgan

Will Morgan, a freelance contributor to Sporked, is an L.A. based writer, actor, and sketch comedy guy. Originally from Houston, TX, he strongly believes in the superiority of breakfast tacos to breakfast burritos. Will traveled the world as one of those people that did yoyo shows at elementary school assemblies, always making a point to find local and regional foods to explore in whatever place he was, even in rinky-dink towns like Tilsonberg, ON. Will spends his birthdays at Benihana’s. Let him know if can make it.

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