Lidl owner targets over 100 billion euros in sales in 2018

Germany’s Schwarz Gruppe, the owner of discount retailers Lidl and Kaufland, is aiming to reach over 100 billion euros ($119.6 billion) in sales this year and plans to keep on investing.

Lidl and rival discount supermarket chain Aldi have been ploughing ahead with investment in other countries, especially in Britain, where they have been taking market share from the traditional players there.

Schwarz Gruppe said in a brief statement on Thursday that last year sales rose 7.4 percent to 96.9 billion euros, of which 74.6 billion came from Lidl, which has 10,460 stores in Europe and the United States.

The group invested 7 billion euros last year and said it was aiming for a similar amount this year.

Lidl plans to add about 300 or 350 new stores this year and increase its product range to 2,500 products from 1,800 currently, Schwarz Gruppe CEO Klaus Gehrig told German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“The pressure to change is greater than ever,” he was quoted as saying, adding that Aldi had shown the way when it came to increasing the product range.