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This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

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Re: This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

#71

Post by raverbashing »

woodpanel wrote: post #65
werber wrote: post #13

Has any foreign chain been able to really take off in Germany?

As some have mentioned, yes. But in general: Why must someone push his brand and store concept into another country, instead of buying/creating a local chain? How often will grocery-buying customers from one country be shopping groceries while on vacation? And would a recognizable brand really leave the customer with an advantage? E.g.: If I were an American in Germany, yearning for Twinkies, which are nowhere to be…

> Why must someone push his brand and store concept into another country, instead of buying/creating a local chain?

Exactly because they want to do it their way

It's not about foreign people, it's about a different way of doing stuff

Walmart may be bad for groceries, but it sells a lot of other stuff, which is an area Aldi/Lidl doesn't touch

Re: This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

#72

Post by jarfil »

chestnut-tree wrote: post #59
Kalium wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If recent events in the UK are any guide, they get really unhappy over low prices. Your basic economic forces take it from there. Dairy farmers are like any other business in that many can stand to be more efficient.

"If recent events in the UK are any guide, they get really unhappy over low prices." Dairy farmers in the UK were complaining that some supermarkets were paying them less for a litre of milk than what it cost them to produce the milk. After protests from farmers, those supermarkets - which included Aldi, Lidl, Asda (owned by Walmart), and Morrisons - agreed to pay more for the milk price. The cost of milk is pretty c…

When "outdoor grazing" means dedicating land for animal use instead of planting crops that could feed several hundred people, just so that a couple of them can get to drink milk... I'd rather see the "zero grazing" variant.

Or get rid of the stupid cows already.

Re: This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

#73

Post by jarfil »

raverbashing wrote: post #71
woodpanel wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As some have mentioned, yes. But in general: Why must someone push his brand and store concept into another country, instead of buying/creating a local chain? How often will grocery-buying customers from one country be shopping groceries while on vacation? And would a recognizable brand really leave the customer with an advantage? E.g.: If I were an American in Germany, yearning for Twinkies, which are nowhere to be…

> Why must someone push his brand and store concept into another country, instead of buying/creating a local chain? Exactly because they want to do it their way It's not about foreign people, it's about a different way of doing stuff Walmart may be bad for groceries, but it sells a lot of other stuff, which is an area Aldi/Lidl doesn't touch

Lidl sells plenty of stuff other than groceries, with anything from clothing to telescopes, they just don't stock them permanently.

But when they do, sometimes they even beat direct-from-China pricing, by up to a 60%. Which is pretty impressive if you were to ask me.

Re: This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

#74

Post by 6t6t6 »

mullen wrote: post #44
untog wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wonder what the effect of this is on dairy farmers.

They sell more milk at a lower price, so I believe it works out for them.

It is never as easy as that. Law of supply and demand is not a linear function and externalities count too. Also, most of the markets are somehow captive.

I doubt that people will drink much more milk because it is cheaper. What happens is that supermarkets don't care if they loose money with one product because what counts is the average of the basket. So what happens is that milk producers will pay the price of a marketing operation.

Re: This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

#75

Post by krotton »

skrebbel wrote: post #57
wink wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but I think werber was referring to grocery stores (or the like).

But that's hardly something unique to Germany then. Off the top of my head, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, UK, Germany, Denmark, and Finland all have their own set of national grocery store chains, with only very little cross-border movement (Aldi and Lidl are the big exceptions).

Poland seems exceptional in this regard - there are local chains here, but they are heavily outmassed by foreign brands, ranging from German LIDL, through Portuguese Jeronimo Martins to French and British franchises. That's probably because of a skewed tax policy favouring foreign companies over locals, which I have a hard time understanding.

Re: This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

#76

Post by raverbashing »

jarfil wrote: post #73
raverbashing wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why must someone push his brand and store concept into another country, instead of buying/creating a local chain? Exactly because they want to do it their way It's not about foreign people, it's about a different way of doing stuff Walmart may be bad for groceries, but it sells a lot of other stuff, which is an area Aldi/Lidl doesn't touch

Lidl sells plenty of stuff other than groceries, with anything from clothing to telescopes, they just don't stock them permanently. But when they do, sometimes they even beat direct-from-China pricing, by up to a 60%. Which is pretty impressive if you were to ask me.

You're right about this aspect of Lidl

But they pretty much don't guarantee availability of anything, it's what's on the shelves (at least on the smaller ones)

I guess they beat direct-from-China price by volume and cheaper freight

Re: This Is Not America: Why Wal-Mart Left Germany (2006)

#77

Post by kordless »

joezydeco wrote: post #28
kordless wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately Aldi in the States doesn't do as well as Aldi in Germany.

ALDI (Süd) is adding 600 stores and 10,000 jobs in North America by 2018, a 50% expansion. They're doing quite well. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-aldi-expansion-hir... ALDI Nord owns Trader Joe's in the USA, and that chain is doing great business as well.

Trader Joe's rocks. Evidently things have turned around for Aldi since I remember hearing about them having problems with stores in the southern part of the US. Honestly, that's been 8-9 years ago now, so it would appear I was wrong about their current successes!
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