The story why Lidl is called that and discarded what would have been a racist name in Germany

Since Lidl burst onto the Spanish market in the 1990s, the German chain has been gaining more and more strength to position itself as in the entire Iberian Peninsula. With a policy of low prices but great quality in its products, this company, however, has a history that dates back to 1930 under the presence of one of the most powerful families in Germany… but with a surname that they could never put on their name. great company due to its racist connotations.

LIDL. With a single vowel that makes its pronunciation difficult for Spanish-speakers, this name that is already so popular in the vocabulary, due to the strong advertising campaign that was carried out at the beginning, is today one of the most pronounced words when it comes to making the purchase.

The German chain par excellence, with permission from Aldi, and one of the strongest in Spain, with permission from Mercadona, Carrefour or Alcampo. An empire that annually invoices around 5,000 million euros on Spanish soil despite not reaching here 30 years of life, but that already has a long tradition since before Nazi Germany.

World War II forced the closing of the stores that the Schwarzs and the Lidls had founded

It was in 1930 that the Schwarz Group was founded, in which today Lidl is grouped in addition to the Kaufland hypermarkets, under the idea of ​​the family of the same surname and the association with the Lidl family, owner of a wholesale fruit group. Gradually opening a gap in the German market, World War II forced these families to close their business until the Schwarz heir, Josef, reopened wholesale through Handelshof in 1968.

But with very little success in this company, due to the difficult sale of its products, Josef set out to open a new supermarket, although this time with discount prices. However, it would be his son, Dieter, the great promoter of what is today the most important distribution chain in Germany.

Dieter Schwarz is currently the 38th richest person in the world with a heritage close to 30,000 million euros

With the aim of expanding the business internationally, and since his last name means black in German (Schwarz Market would be Black Market, which would give rise to racist connotations and bad public opinion), Dieter contacted the heir to the Lidl , Ludwig. He bought the rights to the Lidl name from him for 1,000 marks (just over 500 euros today) and left Kaufland for the traditional hypermarkets of his family, while Lidl was renamed discount stores.

Both under the Schwarz Group brand, Dieter is currently 81 years old, is the owner of the conglomerate, the CEO and president of Lidl and has a wealth of around 30,000 million euros (the 38th richest person in the world). Quite a round business that came from the family inheritance, but the go-ahead to omit what with his last name would have been a Black Market where all kinds of food and innovative products would hardly be sold.