Lidl has reached the threshold of 700 stores in Italy, following the opening of 42 new outlets during its fiscal year 2021/22, which ended on 28 February.
In March, the discounter will celebrate 30 years of operating in Italy, with its first outlet opening in Arzignano near Vicenza in 1992.
At the end of February, Lidl opened new stores in Genoa, Amantea (Cosenza), Vimodrone (Milan), Bologna, Sant'Angelo Lodigiano (Lodi) and Selargius (Cagliari), in which it invested more than €35 million.
About The New Stores
In Amantea, the new 1,200 square metre store will replace an existing outlet dating back to 2010, which is no longer in line with the company’s modern store concept, according to the grocer.
The new store in Bologna has a sales area of 1,300 square metres and is the seventh in the city and the 12th in the wider Bologna area.
The new supermarket in Vimodrone is the 45th Lidl store in the Milan area. In Genoa the retailer has increased its presence to eight stores, while the new store in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano is the fifth in the Lodi area.
Lidl also opened a new supermarket in Selargius, bringing the total number of outlets in Sardinia to 21, five of which are in the province of Cagliari.
Only a week earlier, Lidl opened four additional outlets – in San Vittore Olona (Milan), Catania, Cremona and Cascina (Pisa) – investing around €35 million.
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Logistics Infrastructure
In parallel to new store openings, Lidl Italia is also boosting its logistics infrastructure.
Following an investment of €60 million in the Carmagnola hub in the Turin area, which opened last September, Lidl Italia managing director, Massimiliano Silvestri, told Distribuzione Moderna that €40-50 million has been earmarked for a new hub in Cagliari.
The logistics centre will extend for around 100,000 square metres and will be located in the industrial zone of Assemini.
An agreement will also be signed in the coming days with the municipality of Vaprio D'Adda for a 125,000 square metre logistics centre, along the Milan-Bergamo motorway, which should be completed in two years.
According to Silvestri, the Vaprio D’Adda Hub will be comparable in size to Carmagnola and will support growth in the Lombardy region, which has 10 million inhabitants and is the most important for the retailer.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
