Lidl looks to open 50 more Scottish stores: full list revealed

Lidl has outlined 50 locations in Scotland where it wants to build new stores or relocate existing ones to larger sites as the march of the discount supermarket operators continues.

Publishing its latest expansion “wish list”, the German owned chain said it was eyeing town centre, edge-of-town, retail park and “metropolitan” locations across the country. Those include a dozen potential locations in and around Edinburgh, five in Glasgow and two each in Aberdeen, Cumbernauld, Dunfermline and Paisley.

It comes just a week after arch-rival Aldi, which is also German owned, released a target list as it looks to open a further 20 stores in Scotland.

Lidl’s ever-growing estate spans the nation with stores in communities from Kirkwall in the north, to Stranraer in the south.

Discount supermarket chain Lidl already has about 100 stores across Scotland.

Since 2019, the chain has celebrated the “landmark” opening of its 100th Scottish store, in Cowdenbeath, and the unveiling of its regional distribution site in Eurocentral, Lidl’s largest in Britain.

Ross Millar, the retailer’s regional director for Scotland, said: “We want to continue to reach more shoppers across Scotland and our site requirements brochure is a testament of that.

“There are towns that will be new for Lidl and in some places, the potential to even double our sites. Each new store will have quality food and drink at great prices including produce from more than 60 Scottish suppliers.

“We look forward to opening new stores in the coming months and years and becoming part of local communities.”

As part of its ongoing plans, the firm has committed to investing £1.3 billion in its store expansion across Britain over 2021 and 2022.

Lidl and Aldi have been on an expansion drive in recent years as they look to take on the might of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – Britain’s big four grocers.

Aldi, which now has 96 stores in Scotland and more than 900 across the UK, said last week that it was looking for freehold town and city centre or edge-of-centre sites suitable for development.

Ciaran Aldridge, national property director at Aldi UK, said: “We have been investing in Britain for more than 30 years now, but we know that there are still areas that either do not have an Aldi at all, or that need another store to meet customer demand.”

Lidl’s full list of site requirements in Scotland:

Aberdeen - Garthdee

Aberdeen - Mastrick

Ayr South

Banff

Bishopbriggs

Bonnyrigg

Broughty Ferry

Castle Douglas

Clarkston

Clydebank - North

Cumbernauld - North

Cumbernauld - South

Cumnock / Auchinleck

Denny - Falkirk

Dumfries

Dunblane

Dunfermline - North

Dunfermline - South

Edinburgh - Barnton / Davidson Mains

Edinburgh - Brunstane / Jewel

Edinburgh - City Centre

Edinburgh - Colinton / Currie

Edinburgh - Gilmerton

Edinburgh - Liberton

Edinburgh - Meadowbank

Edinburgh - Morningside

Edinburgh - Murrayside

Edinburgh - Newington / Mayfield

Edinburgh - Oxgangs

Edinburgh - Portobello

Ellon

Glasgow - Cathcart

Glasgow - Drumchapel

Glasgow - Ibrox

Glasgow - Merchant City

Glasgow - Summerston

Helensburgh

Inverness - South

Irvine

Kilmarnock

Kirkcaldy North / East

Largs

Linlithgow

Livingston

Milngavie

Moodiesburn

Newton Mearns

Paisley - South

Paisley - West

Peebles

Perth - North

Polmont - Falkirk East

Renfrew

St Andrews

Stenhousemuir

Stonehaven

Westhill

Wishaw

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