Lidl was initially started by a member of the Schwarz family as a food distributor in Germany in the 1930s. ¹⁾

The full name of Lidl is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG. ²⁾

Lidl opened its first shops in 1973. ³⁾

By 1977, Germany had 33 Lidl shops. ⁴⁾

Lidl became a household name in all of Germany in the 1980s. ⁵⁾

In the 1990s Lidl started to establish shops all throughout Europe, and now almost every nation in Europe has Lidl shops.⁶⁾

Lidl is currently famous as Europe's major distributor of food products. ⁷⁾

Today Lidl is one of the leading food retailers in Europe as a member of the Schwarz Group. It has more than 3,100 shops in Germany and more in the rest of Europe.⁸⁾

Aldi is Lidl's leading rival. ⁹⁾

Since Lidl arrived in the United Kingdom in 1994, there have been quick increases in the number of retailers. There are now over 400 retailers, with many others to come. ¹⁰⁾

Lidl plans to take its outlets to other parts of Europe and even construct stores in Canada, Australia and Mexico. ¹¹⁾