German discount retailer Lidl has purchased a plot of land in Narpes, western Finland, with a view to building a new supermarket.
The plot of land covers some 9,000 sq m, and cost Lidl €14,733 (US$13,870), officials from the town of Narpes reported.
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The deal has caused consternation among workers at Narpes#; other low price supermarket Halpa-Hilli, as the plot is situated in the same Hogback industrial area as its own store.
If Lidl fails to gain permission to build a supermarket on the acquired plot before February 2003, it will pull out of the deal, the Narpes officials added.
Lidl is pursuing an aggressive international expansion campaign in Scandinavia, with plans to expand to Denmark, Norway and Sweden as well as Finland. Outside its homeland Germany, the group is already well established in France, the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Austria and Slovakia. Plans to move into Hungary and Poland are also in the pipeline.
This coming autumn will see Lidl open 40 discount supermarkets in Finland. The company is expected to have an annual turnover of €200m in Finland, the Finnish News Digest reported.
