LIDL - Price Busters or Grocery Outlet in Lyon?

My Colombian friend from language school in summer told me about this supermarket where "you just won't believe the prices." He's a remarkable guy already in his fifth month here in Lyon, and -- don't let appearances fool you -- he knows central Lyon better than some Lyonnais. "Bus Line so-and-so runs from here to here, and you can get off here, then a three-minute walk," ... perhaps you get an idea? So if he says that he's found a store that he likes, then it's worth going to.

The store he showed me was Lidl which, judging by its name and the manner of the addresses listed on the packaging suggest, is a German company. But what a company!

You won't find the usual store brands here, and the provenance of some of the products is unknown. As the EU continues to expand, "produced in the EU" has taken on a slightly different meaning. No longer is it wine from France, olive oil from Spain or Italy, pasta from Italy. I leave you to imagine.

But so what does 20 Euros buy you? Like in Japan, generally not a lot of food. But at Lidl, which stacks food in racks and whose displays resemble the cluttered stackings of Grocery Outlet or Price Busters, prices are really remarkable. 1.30 Euro for a 1.5L box of wine? 0.98 Euro For a box of taboule? Very interesting indeed.

So to give you an idea of what's in this picture:
2 bags of curly fusilli pasta 500g (>1lb.) 0,24 EUR each
Ready-to-eat Taboule (just mix and refrigerate) 0,98 EUR
Canned Tomatoes 0,24 EUR
Olives stuffed with anchovy (recommended by my friend) 0,72 EUR
Red pump bottle with anti-bacterial gel hand soap 1,49 EUR
Giant 1L bottle of Olive Oil 4,79 EUR
Blue bottle of sparkling mineral water 1.5L 0,26 EUR
Toilet bowl cleaner 0,89 EUR
Liquid laundry detergent 3L 2,79 EUR
Vin de Table Rose (1.5L box of wine) 1,29 EUR
Ricotta and Spinach Tortelloni 1,49 EUR
Paper Towels 4 rolls 1,29 EUR
Cheese Fourme d'Ambert 1,24 EUR
Reblochon de Savoie soft cheese (recommended by my friend) 1,78 EUR
1 EUR = $1.3 US.

Of course, these prices aren't anywhere near Costcos, but in the absence of Costco this is more than adequate.

True to form, being a German company, shopping bags are not free. The bag pictured here costs 0.08 EUR, although of course it can (and should well be) reused.

LINK:

http://www.lidl.fr/fr/home.nsf/pages/i.home

UK Site

http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages/i.home