The names mark us, also Lidl, that, even if it is a supermarket, it is conditioned by the opinions of human beings. We buy a short word from Lidl, which is well written and is of German origin. The owner of this supermarket decided to name him this man to hide a coincidence that would have bankrupted him without even opening a supermarket. The surreal story behind Lidl’s name that could have been very different, if its founder hadn’t stepped back.
Lidl’s name avoided a coincidence that would have led to bankruptcy
Lidl came to our country in the 90s , since then we have become familiar with a name that is no longer foreign to us. Initially we might have had trouble pronouncing it as it only had one vowel, but thanks to advertising and a constant habit of seeing it written it is now part of our day-to-day life.
The origin of this company dates back to a few decades ago. Josef Schwarz was the son of a grocer who decided to continue the family tradition. He helped his people to maintain stores that were growing more and more and required a new business model. In Germany, Aldi was already beginning to make itself known, forever changing the way of shopping for the whole week.
In 1973 the Schwarzes decided that the time had come to open their first supermarket, with Josep at the helm and a dilemma on the table. They first thought of calling it Schwarz Market, but it was immediately discarded, the German translation of these words would be ‘black market’. No German would have liked to shop on the black market in his area.
In this way the Schwarz decided to put their last name aside and use that of their partner named Lidl. There was no racist connotation behind it and in this way they would have managed to avoid an almost certain break. The Lidl name is associated with the quality and products that arrive on supermarket shelves from a business tradition aimed at customer satisfaction.
The Schwarzes are one of the richest families in Germany with a supermarket chain present in several countries. Without that commercial strategy that started from their stores, even the fact of hiding their last name, they might not have been able to be in the current situation. A name marks a lot, even for supermarkets it is important.
