Discounter Expands in Denmark, Croatia

Lidl, the German cut-price supermarket chain currently under fire for its repressive working conditions, is planning to open stores in Denmark and Croatia next year, chairman Klaus Gehrig said in a newspaper interview published Monday. Lidl, currently active in 19 countries, generates more than half of its sales outside Germany, Gehrig told the business daily Handelsblatt, adding that the chain’s aim was to open stores in two new countries every year. Lidl's sales are expected to rise this year by 11 percent to €36 billion ($47.5 billion), thanks largely to its successful international activities. Responding to the allegations about poor working conditions, Gehrig said: "I cannot rule out that isolated errors have occurred. But there is no system “of pressuring employees.” Last Friday, the German services sector labor union Verdi slammed working conditions at Lidl, saying that insufficient breaks and constant video surveillance of employees were creating a permanent "climate of fear" among the workforce.