German discount supermarket chain Lidl said on Thursday it would invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in Spain between 2021 and 2024.
Lidl, which currently has over 17,000 employees across 630 shops in Spain, plans to open more than 150 new locations and four logistics hubs by 2024.
Supermarkets and food producers have benefited from customers hoarding and spending more money on groceries during the COVID-19 pandemic as restrictions on eating out and socialising forced people to stay in.
Rival cut-price supermarket DIA cut first-half losses by more than 44% earlier this month, while rice and pasta maker Ebro Foods saw annual profit soar 36% last year.
“This ambitious expansion plan responds to our firm determination to continue boosting our business in Spain,” Imanol Zabala, manager of Lidl Expansion & Real Estate in Spain, said in a statement.
The supermarket chain’s development plan for the country will focus specifically on the Madrid region, where it expects to invest over 200 million euros in the next four years and open 50 new locations.
Photo: EPA/SHAWN THEW
