Battleangel

This is a rant a little out of the ordinary perhaps. Far too trivial for this site but nevertheless I have some reflections that I would like to share. Not just about this chain of stores but on the acquisition of products in general. Here we go …

I’m talking about LIDL [ uk | se | de ] of course. The chain of stores that is spreading across Europe like a plague if you are to believe the competition and self appointed gourmets. I think the company presentation says it all:

We are a successful chain of grocery stores, expanding strongly throughout Europe and beyond its borders.

Simplicity is the cornerstone of our success. Simplicity is the benchmark for all our operations and work processes. We buy and sell with the aim of offering our customers everyday top quality products at the lowest possible price.

A no-frills operation. Effective, timely and determined. No BS. Anyway, it’s time to look back an evaluate the first couple of months.

I have to admit I was sceptical at first. The entire concept sounded a bit shabby to be honest. And groceries never got anyone excited. Unless you have some kind of food fetish maybe. Anyway. In retrospect LIDL is the single most important thing that happened to this place in the last year. Why so?
(1) For the first time ever there is a serious alternative to traditional grocery stores. There have been attempts at this before but none have accomplished anything like this. No one has ever been able to hold a broad selection at prices like these.
(2) The selection is diverse and not typical for Sweden. While a great deal of the products have been adapted to each specific market, many are German substitutes. Many consider this to be a bad thing of course but I see it as a fresh breeze. A chance to broaden the culinary horizon a bit.
(3) Most importantly they also have a limited selection of hardware and cooking utentils. The selection rotates every week and it is surprisingly often that they have something that you want. For example, I have acquired both a blender and a foot spa at LIDL with good results.

The only reason to avoid LIDL is if you’re a stuck-up, uneconomical, prissy little piece of shit. The kind of person who believes that the choice of grocery store will affect their social status and ingroup position. I know for a fact that they exist. Grow up already.
Food for me is on the same level as the xmas rant I did a couple of days ago. It’s just food. It’s not the end of the world. Not to say that LIDL is poor quality, but it sure isn’t astonishing either. It’s a necessity much like a toilet. Come to think of it, I recall a line from Blackadder about the phenomenon. “How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing. For us, it is a mundane and functional item, but for you, it is the basis of an entire culture” (Red Baron, Blackadder IV).
That is kind of what I would like to say here as well. Some people blow the issue of food all out of proportion. Just like some people will spend millions on a piece of cloth with some brush-strokes on it. I have very few requirements and (pre)conceptions like that and am usually more down to earth and see things for what they really are.