Lidl plans to open ten to 15 new branches in Germany each year, preferably in the major cities.
(Photo: imago images/Frank Sorge)
Dusseldorf Lidl boss Kenneth McGrath is reorganizing the management of the most important national company: New managing directors and a leaner structure are intended to make Lidl Germany more resilient in the face of increasingly tough competition and the difficult economic environment exactly 50 years after it was founded.
Head of Germany Christian Härtnagel remains in office, but is given a deputy. Jan Bock, who was previously the head of purchasing at Lidl International, will take over this position. He is responsible for the goods area and the newly created customer area, which also includes marketing.
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The aim is to speed up the decisions. Härtnagel emphasized that the company is taking “consistent steps to shorten decision-making processes, streamline structures and processes and align the company as a whole for the future”. Some managing directors will also be replaced.
Arnd Pickardt is a new member of the management board. The marketing specialist had made a career at Lidl, but left the company in 2018 for Tchibo. He is now returning to position the Lidl brand even more strongly against Aldi’s rivals in the highly competitive German market.
Support for the regions will be streamlined. Instead of six managing directors for the regions, there will only be two in the future: Andreas Liepka will be in charge of the north region, Christian Steimle will be moving from Lidl Switzerland to Germany and will be in charge of the south region. This should ensure “more direct, even more efficient and more comprehensive support for the core business”, it said.
Lidl wants to expand in metropolitan areas
Three managers have to leave the German management. For Dominika Kubisch (purchasing), Maximilian Wiedmann (real estate) and Benny Klein (regions), however, there are new tasks in the company, said Lidl.
Lidl Germany is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In 1973, founder Dieter Schwarz opened the first branch in Ludwigshafen. Initially, he followed Aldi’s principles for success, but quickly developed his own, fast-growing business model from them.
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But meanwhile the growth possibilities in the German business are limited. “In terms of the number of branches, the German market is a saturated market,” Härtnagel recently admitted in an interview with the Handelsblatt. “We have created a comprehensive network with our more than 3,250 branches,” he said.
The head of Germany at Lidl will be given a deputy in the future.
(Photo: dpa)
There are only a few “white spots” left, but Lidl wants to expand in the coming years, especially in the metropolises, according to Härtnagel. Ten to 15 new branches per year are planned.
At the same time, a challenge for Lidl is the sharply rising costs, especially for energy, as Härtnagel confirmed. This is one of the reasons why it is obviously important to make organizational structures leaner and more efficient.
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