The CEO of Lidl's parent company the Schwarz Group has revealed the German discount supermarket chain's expansion into the US market will not come until 2018.
Speaking to German newspaper Heilbronner Stimme, CEO Klaus Gehrig (pictured) also said the group plans to invest €4 billion pursuing growth across its international business, including a US venture he described as currently "in full swing".
Analysts and media outlets in Europe had anticipated that Lidl would begin opening stores in the US as early as 2015, after it emerged that the retailer established an office in the US where executives from its Irish division are tasked with a feasibility study.
Gehrig told Heilbronner Stimme that Schwarz' sales for the fiscal year ended 28 February grew by 10% to about €74 billion. Turnover for the full year at Lidl rose 10.4% to €54 billion, while Schwarz's Kaufland banner achieved sales of €20 billion.
Lidl operates in 26 countries while Kaufland has been exported to six outside Germany.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
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