Germany is the home market of discount giants Aldi and Lidl. Over decades they built the foundation for their international expansion.
One format that has really taken a beating from their rise is the hypermarket. Walmart, after a decade of fighting its corner there, eventually pulled the plug on operations. Over the past two decades Roland Neuwald has played a significant role in shaping the strategies of German hypermarkets in this challenging environment. We recently discussed with him his perspective on the development of the German discounters and what traditional retailers elsewhere can do to prevent them from making further inroads.