Lidl is looking to partially outsource its property strategy to the general public, after putting out a request for customers to help it find sites for its next wave of supermarket openings.
The discount retailer is offering either 1.5% of the total freehold purchase price or 10% of the first year’s rent for leaseholds to anyone who successfully finds it a site. That would equate to £22,500 for a £1.5m purchase.
Lidl has around 920 stores but is hoping to bring that figure to 1,100 by 2025, with target locations including London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Oxford and Birmingham.
The chain is seeking units of between 18,000 sq ft and 26,500 sq ft, with room for more than 100 parking spaces. For stand-alone outlets it wants more than 1.5 acres of land, or up to four acres for mixed-use schemes, it said.
Lidl, which is the sixth-largest supermarket in the UK, has already opened 23 new stores this year, including in Hounslow, Warwick and Straiton near Edinburgh.
Richard Taylor, chief development officer at Lidl GB, said that despite the fast pace of openings this year, “there are still communities up and down the country that are telling us how much they want – and need – a Lidl store”.
He added: “We work with some of the best people in the industry to identify new sites, but we also know how engaged our future and existing customers are and we want to build on this.
“Our finder’s fees are, therefore, available to absolutely anyone who can identify a viable option for a new store that we’re not already aware of, and we welcome any suitable suggestions that will help us to meet our ambitious target of 1,100 stores by the end of 2025.”
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