Lidl's expansion in Switzerland stagnates

Five years ago Lidl opened the doors to their first branch in Switzerland. The country now has 92 branches and the discounter continues to grow but finding suitable sites is becoming more difficult and experts believe that expansion will slow down, report Swiss newspaper 'Grenchner Tagesblatt' on their website.

In March 2009 Lidl opened 13 branches in Switzerland and last February the youngest shop opened their doors in Chur. Together with Aldi, Lidl have grown to become one of the most important discounters in Switzerland. According to research by Credit Suisse (CS), in 2013 both discounters gained a market share of 5% but experts expect this to flatten off. "Supermarkets are competing on a market which is only growing slightly," said CS economist Damian Künzi. Swiss retail is saturated. "Spending per household on food supplies is hardly moving and the market is very dependant on the population," added Künzi "so last year Lidl opened just three shops and direct competitor Aldi, four."

Lidl wish to continue on their course of expansion. "We want to continue to grow over the coming years," said spokeswoman Nadine Archimowitz. "Our expansion team will continue to keep their eye on all variety of locations throughout Switzerland." Despite these plans, retail experts estimate that Lidl is still far from a quick expansion and the opening of their 100th branch.