The discounters have failed to open stores at the ambitious rates they promised when 'The Aldi Effect' was in full swing, new figures show.

Aldi famously claimed in 2008 that it would "open a store a week for the foreseeable future", but its expansion slowed dramatically in 2009. In 2008, Aldi hit its target to increase UK store numbers by 55, but this fell to just 15 in 2009, according to IGD figures shown to The Grocer.

Lidl, which also pledged to open 40 or 50 stores a year, increased its store numbers in the UK by 30 in 2009 - the same rate it achieved in 2008.

The discounters had faced increasing competition for sites because the big four had started to open more smaller format stores, said Chris Keen, who leads property agent CBRE's supermarket team.

"The competition has become increasingly fierce and some discounters are being priced out of the market, particularly for leaseholds," he said.

The discounters were also "fussy" and preferred to build their own stores rather than move into existing sites, another property expert added.

"They are very demanding about what they want and are not as flexible as other retailers, which is a disadvantage when competing with the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's, which are very enthusiastic about smaller formats."

As a result they had not been able to take advantage of the glut of stores that came on to the market as a result of Woolworths collapsing and The Co-operative Group being forced to sell off hundreds of stores following its acquisition of Somerfield.

The reduction in store openings was also due to a slowdown in consumer demand for discounters, said Planet Retail research director Bryan Roberts.

"Most have seen a drop-off in demand for new sites as consumer appetite for the discounters has waned," he said. "They are not growing as rapidly as before and are being more cautious in terms of store openings. The out-of-town new builds with car parking that they tend to favour are becoming harder to get."

Read more
Supermarkets ‘stifle’ the demand for discounters (1 May 2010)
Netto shifts strategy to focus on clearance (13 February 2010)

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