Lidl is planning to invest €70 million in Portugal by the end of the year, compared to €50 million in 2016.
In an interview for Portuguese daily Expresso, Lidl Portugal president, Afrodite Pampa, said that the retailer plans in 2017 to open six new supermarkets with around 1,400 square metres of selling space each.
Although Lidl already has 246 supermarkets in Portugal, Pampa believes that there is still space for growth, including in smaller cities.
The German retailer also plans to remodel 70 supermarkets in Portugal and some of them will include a cafeteria, a global first for Lidl.
In addition, according to Pampa, Lidl Portugal is testing a new take-away concept in a store in Porto.
Currently, over 50% of the suppliers of the fixed assortment (products available in all stores) are Portuguese and Lidl plans to increase their number.
Pampa also said that Lidl, according to Nielsen data, was the retailer that registered the highest growth in Portugal in 2016 in terms of market share, reaching 8.5%.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
