Lidl Polska, which has about 950 stores, wants to open over 50 branches next year – said President Włodzimierz Wlaźlak. As he said, the consumer is still cautious.
“I think that next year we will open over 50 new stores, and in the next 2-3 years we want to maintain this high pace above 50 openings. In the long run, by 2035, we assume the opening of several dozen stores a year” – told PAP Biznes in the lobby of the Economic Forum in Karpacz, the president of Lidl Polska Włodzimierz Wlaźlak.
Lidl has about 950 stores in Poland, served by 13 distribution centers.
“We are building the 14th Distribution Center, in Skawina near Krakow, which will be open in 2027. We plan another, but the development of distribution centers must follow the number of stores,” said the president.
As he said, you can see a place for at least 1,400-1.500 Lidl stores in Poland.
The president announced that Lidl is already fully ready for the sacrificial system, which will enter into force on October 1.
“The machines that are to serve the bailing act are already in all our stores. They will take plastic bottles, cans, as well as – to a lesser extent – glass bottles,” said Wlaźlak.
The president pointed out that the company has already suffered large expenditure on preparation for the deposit system.
“If each store to rebuild it accordingly, the cost would be PLN 1.2-1.3 million into a facility, which would mean about PLN 1.3 billion at our network. No company is able to take such investments during the year, because, I would like to remind you that the final version of the act appeared in November 2024. We will be wisely incurred by these expenditure,” said the head of Lidla in Poland.
“In several hundred stores we have annexes, i.e. special rooms where these devices are, and the customer sees only the front of the machine, into which he throws a bottle. In stores where it is not possible, there will be a free -standing machine, erected in the store so that it is convenient for the customer” – he added.
Some time ago the network introduced a discount encouraging customers to return bottles.
“We wanted to show that we are ready and accustomed customers, but also to respond to their needs in the field of environmental protection. We give a discount of 10 groszy for each dedicated bottle. The results are unbelievable, especially now after the holidays. From week to week we can be over 20 percent of growth. In total, we collected 70 million bottles and assume that it will grow,” said the president.
When asked about the market condition and this year's sales, he replied: “As for the sale of Like-For-Line, we are satisfied. We are developing and this is very satisfactory for us.”
“The market is very hard, very competitive. Economic development is, but years of uncertainty, starting from 2020, and the ongoing war abroad caused that customers have caused expenses more carefully. Even if they have more in the portfolio, this money is not immediately allowed to the market. I think that savings are growing,” said the president.
“A year and a half ago it seemed that this upward trend, as it is about consumption, would be greater. It is not so. It is much smaller than we expected. It is also probably associated with large inflation fluctuations. Now again there is a slight increase in prices of all food raw materials, including meat.
Włodzimierz Wlaźlak estimated that in the short perspective the chapter system is the challenge for the retail industry. In the long run, the networks will have to face the problem of employee deficiency.
“As a long -term challenge, I see a situation on the labor market, which is why we put so much importance to caring for our employees, to a long binding with them. We probably have the lowest, and certainly definitely lower than the average in the industry, fluctuation,” said President Wlaźlak.
Lidl Polska has been operating for 23 years. The company has about 950 stores in Poland. At the end of 2024, the network employed over 29 thousand. employees.
According to the report on the impact of Lidl Polska on the development of the national economy in 2024, prepared in cooperation with Deloitte, it shows that last year Lidl Polska stores generated almost PLN 11.4 billion of added value, of which PLN 6 billion was created in the company itself, and PLN 5.4 billion at network suppliers and thanks to employees' providers.
In 2024, the total amount paid to the public finance sector of the state amounted to PLN 3.5 billion.
As stated, last year the value of exports of Polish products within Lidl by over 340 suppliers per 28 foreign markets amounted to nearly PLN 6.9 billion. Within seven years, the total value of the export of Polish products via the international Lidl network amounted to over PLN 32 billion.
Anna Pełka (PAP Biznes)
Pel/ Ana/
