EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Markets and Companies, Retail

"At the moment we are looking for real estate for the construction and development of our stores," Lidl representative Daina Balcuniene tells the newspaper, adding that the public will be informed later as to when the first Lidl stores will open in Latvia.

Although Lidl representative Stephal Kruckel previously said that the company was not planning to open stores in Latvia, "Biznes&Baltija" reminds that former Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Kazys Starkevicius said last year that Lidl was planning to build a distribution center in Kaunas that would serve the entire Baltic region.

Lidl originally planned to enter the Baltic market in 2003 but later changed its mind and sold all land parcels bought in the Baltic countries, explaining that the Baltic market was too small.

The company nevertheless made a good profit in Latvia, without even opening a single store, because it sold the properties bought in Latvia at profit. Lidl Latvija total profit in 2006-2008 amounted to LVL 7.2 million, according to "firmas.lv" data.

Part of Lidl properties were acquired by Estonian chain stores A-Selver, which also had to leave Latvia eventually due to the economic crisis.