Discount supermarket war in Keswick as Lidl eyes up sites for store

Discount supermarket chain Lidl has sparked a war with rival Aldi as it eyes a possible new store in Keswick.

Lidl has announced 11 possible locations for stores in Cumbria – including one in Keswick.

The stores are included in a list of possible locations across Great Britain.

It follows the news last week that Aldi also has plans to open a store in Keswick. It did not reveal a specific location for the proposed site.

Lidl pledges to open 1,000 stores by the end of 2023, having recently opened its 860th store in Great Britain.

This forms part of the business’ £1.3bn investment plans for 2021 and 2022, which includes opening 50 new stores this year, creating 2,000 new jobs.

It was recently given planning permission for a new store on Warwick Road in Carlisle.

Lidl has released the following locations where it is interested in the possibility of opening a new store:

Barrow – North
Barrow – South
Carlisle – East
Carlisle – North
Carlisle – West
Keswick
Penrith
Ulverston
Whitehaven
Windermere
Workington

Lidl is looking for stores which fit the following criteria:

Prominent locations with easy access and strong pedestrian or traffic flow.
Freehold, leasehold or long leasehold opportunities.
Unit sizes between 18,000 and 26,500 sq ft and 100+ dedicated car parking spaces.
1.5+ acres for standalone stores or up to four acres for mixed-use schemes.
Town centre or edge of centre and retail parks.

A finder’s fee applies to anyone who identifies a previously unknown site, at 1.5 per cent for identifying a freehold site and 10 per cent of the first year rent for leasehold sites.