Lidl focuses on British clothing market

Trendy clothing at discount prices

Starting Monday, all 600 British Lidl stores will sell trendy women’s clothing at discount prices: a fake leather jacket for 14.99 pounds (18.75 euro), a sweater for 5.99 pounds (7.50 euro), jeans for 6.99 pounds (8.75 euro) or ankle boots for 9.99 pounds (12.5 euro). It will start with 9 different “on trend items”.

British Lidl stores already sell basics like underwear and t-shirts, but “this is the first time ever that we’ve done such a high-end fashion promotion and we’re hugely excited about launching these lines on 25 August”, Josie Stone (non-food buying manager at Lidl UK) said. “Not only are these jackets bang on trend for this season but they’re also £15 a pop, which is unbeatable value for such high quality.”

Competition for Asda, Tesco & Co

Lidl’s clothing move is bad news for the familiar supermarket chains. Particularly Asda is hugely successful with its home brand “George”, which is the second-highest selling clothing brand (in volume), following Primark. Tesco (with its F&F brand) and Sainsbury’s (with Tu) will keep track of Lidl’s movement.

Clothing is Lidl’s newest weapon to lure customers away from the traditional supermarkets, after it had already expanded its product range with fresh meat and vegetables, bread, lobsters (around the Christmas period) and an upgraded wine selection.

It has definitely worked, as the 600 British Lidl stores attract some 5 million customers per week. Lidl UK’s CEO Ronny Gottschlich believes the company could grow to 1,500 stores and he aims to open 40 new stores per year.