What is Lidl’s stock price, and are they publicly traded? Investors cannot purchase shares of Lidl because they are a private company. Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Kroger (NYSE: KR), and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) are a few grocery stock stocks that traders can invest in.
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Lidl Introduction (No Stock Symbol)
First off, it is pronounced lee-dull, and rhymes closely with the word needle. Lidl is a German grocery chain that has since expanded into other regions, including the United States. In fact, Lidl operates 11,200 store locations in 33 different countries around the world! The brand came over to the United States back in 2017 and has since opened 165 locations with more on the way. Lidl markets itself as a European discount brand retailer, with high-quality products and unique offerings.
The Lidl chain is owned by the Schwarz Gruppe in Germany, which also operates the 91 year old chain called Kaufland. The Schwarz Gruppe is a massive retail conglomerate that has over 500,000 employees under its umbrella.
Its fiscal year 2020/2021 revenues amounted to 125 billion Euros. Needless to say, Lidl is owned by some retail industry leaders from Germany. With this much global presence and business, Lidl sounds like it would make for a great investment!
Lidl Stock Investment
Lidl would absolutely be a great investment, were it a company that is traded on the stock market. Unfortunately, right now, Lidl is still a privately owned company that does not trade on any stock exchange in any country. You can’t even buy shares of the Schwarz Gruppe on any German stock exchange, so for now, the company remains an entirely private entity. Lidl is still operated by the Schwarz family, as the Chairman is Dieter Schwarz, son of the original founder of the Schwarz Gruppe.
As of now, there does not seem to be any indication from anyone from the Schwarz family that they will be taking Lidl public. In fact, much like fellow European retail giant Ikea, there is just no desire for management to have the company trade publicly. Now, since Lidl and the Schwarz Gruppe is a family-run business, things could change in the future. Perhaps the younger generation of the Schwarz family will see things differently. There is no guarantee though, so if you want to buy Lidl stock, unfortunately, you are plain out of luck!
What Does Lidl Sell?
The category of discount brand retailers is a little vague, so let’s shed some light on what you can actually buy at Lidl. First of all, about 80% of the products that Lidl sells Aere, its home brand.
Making all of the products in-house saves a ton of money, and allows the company to pass the savings onto the customer.
It should come as no surprise that most of the major retail chains in the United States also have their own home brands that they sell.
Lidl sells a little bit of everything! From food to household products to alcohol, Lidl offers everything you would expect from a grocery store. Some of its home brands are quite prevalent throughout the store including the Lidl Preferred Selection and the generic Lidl brand.
Lidl is a one-stop-shop for any family and even offers a rewards program called Lidl Plus. This program offers discounts on future purchases and is available as a downloadable app for iOS and Android.
What Are Some Other Brands Like Lidl?
Lidl is a multinational chain that sells most of its own products. It is often mentioned in the same breath as Aldi, which is another German discount retailer. Aldi is very similar to Lidl in that they are both no-frills, discount retailers. Down to the number of locations (Aldi has over 12,400 in 32 different countries), the two chains can be seen as direct rivals. So who owns Aldi?
Aldi is owned by another family grocery conglomerate called the Albrecht family. Aldi is actually an abbreviation for ALdrecht DIskont. The Albrecht family is a successful grocery group, similar to the Schwarz Gruppe, and they own a very interesting and familiar American brand: Trader Joe’s. The Albrecht family purchased Trader Joe’s back in 1979, and have operated the American chain ever since. If you have ever been to a Trader Joe’s, you will recognize the theme of mostly house brand products that are made with high-quality ingredients.
Ikea is another one that always pops up. Sure, Lidl doesn’t sell furniture, but the comparison is still the same. Ikea makes most of its products under its home brand, and if you visit the Ikea grocery area, you will see all of its in-house products. Like Aldi and Lidl, Ikea is also a privately owned company that has no plans as of now to go public.
So What Are Some Grocery Stocks I Can Buy?
We get it, grocery stores are always in demand. In most places in the world, people visit grocery stores in order to get their food goods and other essentials. You are not alone in thinking that Lidl stock would make for a solid investment.
As investors, when we see things that people cannot live without, our minds turn to which stocks we can buy to benefit from this. Let’s take a look at some of the grocery chains that are traded on the US stock market.
Costco (NASDAQ: COST): Everyone’s favorite wholesale chain. Costco is rapidly growing into one of the largest and most powerful retailers around the world. Particularly in the United States where Costco operates over 550 different locations and in Canada where it operates 103.
Costco has opened locations in several key markets including Asia, where it has several stores in both Japan and South Korea, as well as recent expansion into Mainland China.
Like Lidl, Costco offers an extensive home brand to its customers which is called Kirland, after the city in which Costco was founded in Washington state. Costco utilizes an exclusive annual membership fee, which allows it to pass on the savings to its members.
Walmart (NYSE: WMT): Not exactly a direct competitor to Costco, Walmart is the American discount retailer. Walmart operates over 10,200 stores around the world, including in the UK, South America, and Mainland China. We often forget just how large of a corporation Walmart is. If we compare it to Costco, Walmart has nearly double the market cap. Walmart also sells a few different home brands including Sam’s Choice, Equate, and Great Value. While it is on a much larger scale than Lidl, the parallels of a successfully run grocery chain are there.
Grocery vs Lidl Stock
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN): Would you consider Amazon a grocery chain? Well, the only reason I included it is because Amazon owns the popular grocery chain Whole Foods. Now, Whole Foods used to be a publicly-traded company until it was acquired back in 2017 for a whopping $13.7 billion. But hey, just like we think grocery stores are a good investment, so too did Amazon. Once again Whole Foods follows that same grocery store concept of providing high-quality products under its home brand. Whole Foods offers the 365 brand at a slightly cheaper price than other brands. Amazon operates around the world and is one of the five largest companies on Earth.
Target (NYSE: TGT): Target has long been the thorn in WalMart’s side. It is yet another discount retailer that sells a lot of its products under its own brand umbrellas. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Target operates nearly 2,000 stores around the world, and has grown to be a $128 billion company. Target has made an aggressive push into groceries and fresh produce over the past few years. While it doesn’t quite have the international success that these other companies have, Target is still popular stateside.
Kroger (NYSE: KR): Our final chain is an American grocer that was established way back in 1883 by a German family named, you guessed it, Kroger. Kroger operates over 2,700 stores in the U.S. including chains like Fred Meyer’s, QFC, and of course Kroger. The stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Kroger has a market cap of just over $30 billion. Clearly, it’s much smaller than the above-mentioned grocery chains.
Lidl Stock Final Thoughts
In most developed regions of the world, grocery stores are the source for our daily needs. It is our butcher, our farmer, our fishmonger, all in one convenient shop. Lidl is a 48-year old grocery chain that was founded by the Schwarz Gruppe in Germany. Since it was established, it has opened locations in nearly every European country, as well as overseas expansion into the United States. The only thing that we can knock Lidl for? It’s not a publicly traded company so we can’t buy it’s stock! Lidl is not traded anywhere, not in Germany or in the United States. Unfortunately, if you want to buy Lidl stock, you will simply have to wait to see if it goes public, or you can buy shares in one of the other grocery chains we discussed in this article!
