LIDL Newbridge

WishUWereHere

Do our grocery shopping in LIDL Newbridge every week. Last summer ( twice ) we went there in the afternoon only to find the shelves mostly bare. I find this rediculous and contacted them over this. They replied with profuse apologies and promised to contact the store to ensure this wouldn't happen again.

We stopped going there in the afternoons over this, and do our shopping in the mornings. However, lately we have noticed there is nearly always some product/s missing, which resulted us having to go visit Tesco up the road. We are talking every day items here. Last week no brioche or grapefruit, today ( Saturday ) no strawberries or gem lettuce. This was at about 10h30.

My next door neighbour drives up to ALDI in Naas to do Her shopping - I can now see why. Oh if only there were an Aldi in Newbridge to give LIDL a real kick up the backside.

Apologies for the rant, only we are fed up with the unreliabiity of our local LIDL.

L1011

I wouldn't consider brioche and grapefruit everyday items, to be totally honest.

Individual stores do not control their supply chain.

WishUWereHere

L1011 wrote: »

I wouldn't consider brioche and grapefruit everyday items, to be totally honest.

Individual stores do not control their supply chain.

I accept that individual stores can't control their own supply chain, but try telling the shortage of a product to a daughter who was so looking forward to her brioche's.

What I'm trying to say is that LIDL is becoming totally unreliable for continuous supplies.

I often wonder is a) only Newbridge ( maybe due to the lack of competition form not having an ALDI in Newbridge ), or is this phenomen widespread in LIDL?

Walter2016

Aldi will start building their store in the spring. It is located beside the Topaz station where the old Ray O'Brien motor showroom was.

Both Lidl & Aldi have a very strong stocking system, so it should be unusual for such issues, epecially as the warehouse supplying the store is 3 minutes away on the great connell road.

One issue I do notice is restaurants / cafes sometimes buying supplies if their suppliers have let them down. I've seen people with full boxes of fresh produce and that can very quickly lead to an out of stock situation as stock is based on average daily sale.

NedNew2

WishUWereHere wrote: »

...but try telling the shortage of a product to a daughter who was so looking forward to her brioche's.

Maybe show her a video of a half starved innocent child in Africa whose only thought is whether they will get enough food to survive for the next week. I'm sure she'll be just fine without her brioche.

BuffyBot

Folks, play nice.

You notice more, as unlike Tesco or Dunnes, Lidl will only have one or two brands/sizes as opposed to numerous ones. Therefore gaps are more noticable when they've had supply issues/late delivery/run on a particular product.

Anytime I've visited it, I haven't noticed it to by any worse than other Lidl stores that are as busy as it is.

CPTM

BuffyBot wrote:

Folks, play nice.

Exactly, sure you could belittle any issue in the world when you stand it next to a starving child in the 3rd world. It's a valid point you're making, but I don't think the OP was about to start a rally outside Leinster house on this.

OP, have you mentioned it to the store manager? From experience I think they're happy enough to find out when their supply isn't meeting their customer's demand if the tone is right. Sometimes they mightn't be aware.

WishUWereHere

NedNew2 wrote: »

Maybe show her a video of a half starved innocent child in Africa whose only thought is whether they will get enough food to survive for the next week. I'm sure she'll be just fine without her brioche.

No offence intended, but my point is about continuity of supply in LIDL..NOT about a starving child anywhere in the World.

WishUWereHere

CPTM wrote: »

Exactly, sure you could belittle any issue in the world when you stand it next to a starving child in the 3rd world. It's a valid point you're making, but I don't think the OP was about to start a rally outside Leinster house on this.

OP, have you mentioned it to the store manager? From experience I think they're happy enough to find out when their supply isn't meeting their customer's demand if the tone is right. Sometimes they mightn't be aware.

I emailed their HQ previously about this matter. They came back to me saying they will speak to management in this store.

Don't get me wrong, for me the best thing ever to happen was Lidl & Aldi coming to Ireland, and giving the other 3 main stores a kick up the backside. It's just frustrating when You write out a shopping list and nearly always end up having to go to Tesco to top up on somethiong that Lidl didn't have that week.

soc

WishUWereHere wrote: »

My next door neighbour drives up to ALDI in Naas to do Her shopping - I can now see why. Oh if only there were an Aldi in Newbridge to give LIDL a real kick up the backside.

Have you driven a few miles down the road to Kildare Town? There is an Aldi there... and a Lidl too.

Cazale

This is a huge bugbear of mine too. The store is constantly under stocked. I went at 9am on the Saturday morning before Halloween and they had already sold out of all their weekend crisp specials. I go to the gym in Naas and popped in there at about two in the afternoon and they still had three pallets full even though the store was no busier! It's impossible to plan a meal and to go to the Newbridge store. If you want soup they'll have no garlic bread to go with it or if you want steak they'll have no pepper sauce left. I know they have less products on offer but I've never seen the same stock issues in other stores. Go in at night and sometimes the freezers will be entirely empty. Absolute joke of a place.

Cazale

soc wrote:

Have you driven a few miles down the road to Kildare Town? There is an Aldi there... and a Lidl too.

Why should they though.

WishUWereHere

soc wrote: »

Have you driven a few miles down the road to Kildare Town? There is an Aldi there... and a Lidl too.

But isn't driving the 8 kms to Kildare Town defeating the purpose of having a Lidl in Newbridge? Can't wait for Aldi to open here.

Gladtohelp

The products you mention may well be ordered into store by management and then not received due to suppliers etc. It is unfair of you to go to head office with complaints if you haven't given the store manager a chance to explain. Going above their head could affect their job.

Gladtohelp

The products you mention may well be ordered into store by management and then not received due to suppliers etc. It is unfair of you to go to head office with complaints if you haven't given the store manager a chance to explain. Going above their head could affect their job.

harr

I definitely find lidi worse for this ...I always shopped in Tesco till this year when I got pissed off paying over the odds so decided to try both lidi and ALDI ...lidi in newbridge and ALDI in kildare...I never could get a full shop done In lidi without needing to pop into Tesco...
I have never had that issue yet in ALDI if one product is out of stock they seem to have an alternative in store....

Cazale

Went up to Lidl at 17:30 to get some stuff. Frozen aisle was half empty and only about ten cartons of milk left. All the freezers were stocked like below. I've been here before when they have run out of milk and they had no frozen pizzas at all for sale another time.

Gladtohelp

I can see low stock levels but the only thing missing are the pizzas which may not have been delivered. I too shop in Newbridge and have never had a problem getting what I need. The staff are extremely friendly and always ready to help. Maybe you could ask one of them if you can't find what you need.

WishUWereHere

Gladtohelp wrote: »

The products you mention may well be ordered into store by management and then not received due to suppliers etc. It is unfair of you to go to head office with complaints if you haven't given the store manager a chance to explain. Going above their head could affect their job.

FYI, I have spoken to management in the store only to be told the ordering is out of their control.

WishUWereHere

Gladtohelp wrote: »

The products you mention may well be ordered into store by management and then not received due to suppliers etc. It is unfair of you to go to head office with complaints if you haven't given the store manager a chance to explain. Going above their head could affect their job.

So, what are You suggesting? The customer shut's up and perseveres with the weekly shortages? ( FYI, again, no strawberries this week)

Nobody is complaining about the Staff ( indeed I have never found them anything but helpful ).

Gladtohelp

WishUWereHere wrote: »

So, what are You suggesting? The customer shut's up and perseveres with the weekly shortages? ( FYI, again, no strawberries this week)

Nobody is complaining about the Staff ( indeed I have never found them anything but helpful ).

I asked the manager today what was going on with strawberries and she explained that although she orders 12 cases everyday she only receives 1 or 2 because of a shortage at their central warehouse.

WishUWereHere

Gladtohelp wrote: »

I asked the manager today what was going on with strawberries and she explained that although she orders 12 cases everyday she only receives 1 or 2 because of a shortage at their central warehouse.

For someone who has just registered and only made 4 comments, all on this topic, I wonder are You perhaps a manager of the said store Yourself? You seem to know a fair bit about the retail trade, and You are pro for the staff, something I like and admire, and as far as that store goes, I have nothing but compliments on them.

BTW, I was in Whitewater after shopping in Lidl yesterday, which was about 10h30am, and got 2 punnets of strawberries for approximately €5 in M&S. I wonder why they were selling 2 on a special price? Too many in stock, perhaps?

Aldi cannot come to Newbridge quickly enough IMHO.

Cazale

They saw your post about strawberries, went into lidl to ask the manager and then replied to your post. All within 75 mins. Bit suspect alright.

Gladtohelp

Cazale wrote: »

They saw your post about strawberries, went into lidl to ask the manager and then replied to your post. All within 75 mins. Bit suspect alright.

Actually I had already done my shopping there this morning and was also looking for strawberries. The manager is a friend of mine so I asked her.

Gladtohelp

WishUWereHere wrote: »

For someone who has just registered and only made 4 comments, all on this topic, I wonder are You perhaps a manager of the said store Yourself? You seem to know a fair bit about the retail trade, and You are pro for the staff, something I like and admire, and as far as that store goes, I have nothing but compliments on
BTW, I was in Whitewater after shopping in Lidl yesterday, which was about 10h30am, and got 2 punnets of strawberries for approximately €5 in M&S. I wonder why they were selling 2 on a special price? Too many in stock, perhaps?

Aldi cannot come to Newbridge quickly enough IMHO.

No I'm not the manager. She is actually my neighbour

WishUWereHere

Gladtohelp wrote: »

No I'm not the manager. She is actually my neighbour

So, no strawberries again today? At least 3 of the last 4 weekend days had practically no strawberries, while at the same time ( can only speak for this weekend ) M&S have strawberries on special? We all know last & this weekend strawberries are the issue, even the dog in the street knows there will be some other issue next weekend.

Like Cazale above, I too have rocked up at Lidl and discovered no pasteurised milk for sale - yes LOTS of low fat, but no pasteurised. I wonder where and when will all these line shortages stop? When Aldi come to town?

Love your name BTW, You certainly are helping the Manageress of Lidl - good neighbour!

WishUWereHere

I wonder though, are these product shortages exclusively a Newbridge problem or do they permeate throught all the stores in Kildare/Ireland?

Cazale

WishUWereHere wrote: »

I wonder though, are these product shortages exclusively a Newbridge problem or do they permeate throught all the stores in Kildare/Ireland?

I work near the Citywest store and go to the gym near the Naas one and Im always popping in for stuff. They don't have the same issues from what I have seen.

L1011

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Like Cazale above, I too have rocked up at Lidl and discovered no pasteurised milk for sale - yes LOTS of low fat, but no pasteurised. I wonder where and when will all these line shortages stop? When Aldi come to town?

Low fat milk is pasteurised. I believe all milk sold retail for general human consumption in Ireland is - raw milk is very hard to obtain and not through normal retail.

WishUWereHere

L1011 wrote: »

Low fat milk is pasteurised. I believe all milk sold retail for general human consumption in Ireland is - raw milk is very hard to obtain and not through normal retail.

Thanks for enlightening me L1011. According to the photo above, I should have used the phrase 'Whole Milk' as compared to Low fat milk. Sorry.

WishUWereHere

Gladtohelp wrote: »

I asked the manager today what was going on with strawberries and she explained that although she orders 12 cases everyday she only receives 1 or 2 because of a shortage at their central warehouse.

Again I shopped in Lidl Newbridge this morning ( around 11h00 ) and no strawberries for the ( almost certain ) 4th week in a row.

Perhaps You could ask Your Manageress friend to demand more stock from HQ...after all, it's just down the bottom of the town. And tell Her also that I went and got fresh Irish ( Keelings Brand ) strawberries in Tesco, and while there, noticed they had a special on Mayonaisse and I ended up buying enough for the next 6 months - another reason not to have to bother going to Lidl - Lost sales on Lidl's part.