Lidl - pretty poor in the evening

tinkle

Hi,


Decided to try out Lidl for my 'big shop' this week instead of t*sco.


I went in around 8pm and to say the shelves were pretty bare would not be an understatement. For example there was barely any fruit left, 2 boxes of raspberries ( left because they were all squished) a yucky box of blueberries ( left because there was no lid) No salad stuff, barely any apples (the few that were left were all bashed) a lot of other fruits were empty spaces on the shelf. Barely any meat or fish left in the fridges.


Can you only shop at Lidl in the morning to get what you need?! I assume by my visit that they stock up early in the morning.


Pretty disappointed - is this normal for Lidl or do I just have a rubbish local store?


Thanks!

[Deleted User]

Fruit/veg and fresh meat/ fish/poultry does disappear pretty quick in my local, so the earlier the better.

Westin

It's similar in our local store as well.

I suspect Lidl keep their costs down by minimal staff numbers and keeping those who work in the stores to restricted hours. I can often be in store immediately after opening and the poor staff are having to move pallets around the shop floor and trying to stock shelves whilst early shoppers dash around with trollies. Staff also have to be called off shelf filling back on to the tills on a regular basis it seems.

It would certainly be nice if the staff where perhaps paid to start an hour or so earlier in the day to stock the shop then remove all of the pallet trollies, old boxes and packaging that are scattered on the floor before the customers came in. Ditto to dedicated re stockers during the day. I guess however that this would result in prices going up from increased overheads.

stampede

Is Lidl really any cheaper than the majors?

I've tried it and aldi a few times, and never got everything I was shopping for, so ended up going elsewhere as well, also ended up shopping all day rather than a couple of hours.

DaveTheMus

Lidl is like an old school supermarket before they went 24 hour......

The fruit and veg is delivered every day straight from the fruit market, so, it isn't sitting around for days in a massive regional hub waiting for allocation. It's much fresher than anything you'll get from Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison and Tesco.

I only buy my fruit and veg from Lidl, but you need to go early to get the pick of the bunch.

Teahfc

DaveTheMus wrote: »

Lidl is like an old school supermarket before they went 24 hour......

The fruit and veg is delivered every day straight from the fruit market, so, it isn't sitting around for days in a massive regional hub waiting for allocation. It's much fresher than anything you'll get from Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison and Tesco.

I only buy my fruit and veg from Lidl, but you need to go early to get the pick of the bunch.

100% wrong on that my friend.
Lidl like Aldi and all the other big retailers have distribution centres up and dine the country, as a supplier you deliver your product to these DC's and they in turn collate the orders for the separate stores.
No daily fruit market deliveries just very much the same sources and as many of the other supermarkets.
Most of the European produce is sourced directly with the growers, and importers are used for some of the less volume lines.
Lidl still represents as good a value as any store, I import fresh produce and use Waitrose and Lidl for my supply.

DaveTheMus

Teahfc wrote: »

100% wrong on that my friend.
Lidl like Aldi and all the other big retailers have distribution centres up and dine the country, as a supplier you deliver your product to these DC's and they in turn collate the orders for the separate stores.
No daily fruit market deliveries just very much the same sources and as many of the other supermarkets.
Most of the European produce is sourced directly with the growers, and importers are used for some of the less volume lines.
Lidl still represents as good a value as any store, I import fresh produce and use Waitrose and Lidl for my supply.

I was told this by a manager in the Lidl next to my work...

he said they get their fruit and veg from the fruit market in Glasgow

VfM4meplse

So weird...I read this thread last night and thought nothing of it.

What did I dream about? An early morning supermarket trip and the fruit and veg weren't worth having, eg celery that looked like stringy spring onions. The delivery was late

PasturesNew

Yes, Lidl are like a lot of small supermarkets - they're not full-time worker friendly. You can't go before work (as they're not open) and when you go on your way home they've run out of most things.

Morrisons are similar.

For these stores that open at 8am, you really need to have been before 11am to guarantee they've still got 99% of what you were after.

A couple of years ago I lived somewhere where there was a small Asda (not 24 hours), a Morrisons and a small Sainsburys .... no 24 hour shopping for at least 20 miles. Woe betide anybody wanting a loaf after mid-afternoon because if there were any left at all it'd be the peculiar and/or expensive ones only.

Teahfc

DaveTheMus wrote: »

I was told this by a manager in the Lidl next to my work...

he said they get their fruit and veg from the fruit market in Glasgow

No he was wrong, how do you think all that per packed product gets branded with lidl own brands ?
It is per packed by various suppliers up and down the country and delivered to the various distribution centres.
One if the reason to keep rates down us have smaller storage facility and order daily.

dlusman

tinkle wrote: »

Hi,

Can you only shop at Lidl in the morning to get what you need?! I assume by my visit that they stock up early in the morning.

Pretty disappointed - is this normal for Lidl or do I just have a rubbish local store?

Thanks!

I think you have a rubbish store ( or I have a good one ) . I do most of my shopping in the evening , and havent noticed many problems at Lidl.