Lidl invades Serbia with 16 store openings at once

German discount supermarket chain Lidl has added Serbia to its list of countries: the group has opened sixteen outlets at once in the Balkan country, five of which are located in the capital Belgrado.

Seven more to come this year

Talk about making a big entrance: Lidl opened sixteen stores at once today in Serbia. That’s not all: before the end of the year, seven more outlets will appear. Lidl’s intended final amount of stores remains unknown.

The choice of Serbia is no coincidence: the economy in that nation has grown by 4 % this year as a result of rising private consumption, increased investments and attractive export. Lidl, which is part of the German Schwarz Gruppe, is investing some 205 million euros in Serbia according to president Aleksandar Vučić, who personally attended the opening of one of the outlets in Belgrado.

The president emphasised the importance of Germany as a trade partner and investor. Serbia imported more than 2 billion euros worth of goods from Germany last year, while German companies had already invested a similar amount in Serbia since 2000.