Aldi exiting Greece

Leaving Greece

Discount supermarket Aldi is reportedly withdrawing from Greece, amid talks it is planning on selling its 38 outlet stores on the first market exit in the company's history.

It will be a shock move for the company, who has already come in far below its aims for the region, opening only 40 stores instead of the planned 100 stores by 2009.

Its challenging plans were laid down in 2008, when Aldi announced plans to invest €1.5 billion in order to open 400 outlets within 10 years. However, the chain has not been hurt by the slump in consumer spending due to the recession, and further hampered by not being seen as a price leader, as opposed to other countries where it operates such as Germany.

The retailer also had problems with its upper management in the country, as the venture into Greece proceeded under Armin Burger and Konstantinos Rozos, two top executives with Aldi Süd. However both managers unexpectedly left the company last autumn.

The chain employs 700 workers in the country, and said the stores will be gradually shut down by the end of 2010. In a statement, Aldi said that it will "focus more strongly on expansion in the other nine countries in which the company is successful with more than 4,200 outlets" including the UK, Ireland, the US and Australia.

Problems from the beginning

Speaking to Australian Food News, Planet Retail analyst Milos Ryba said: "Aldi has had problems from the beginning. It could not find reasonably priced plots. It was opening stores close to Schwarz Group's Lidl but was not able to compete on price."

He added that he would not be surprised if Aldi withdraws from Poland as its expansion is slow in the country and competition in the discount sector is stronger than that in Greece.

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