Lidl

This is my favourite Lidl, it is a fairly large branch and is big enough to have its own in store bakery, and several aisles of special ‘deal of the week’ items. It recently had an extension so this boosts its floorspace even more, and there are now larger freezers of meat and bigger fridges with more fresh produce.
Lidl’s is generally a superbly affordable supermarket and I have been using it for years, you won’t tend to get that many branded goods, organic things or ‘free from’ ranges, but if you know that in advance then you can plan for a whole weeks shop quite easily. They often have Scottish products, and do weekly offers.
My personal favourite ‘highlight’ items in this store are the cherry plum tomatoes, rye bread, 6 packs of sparkling mineral water, small multivitamin juice multipacks and their fairtrade dark chocolate. I am partial to their frozen pizzas as well, they have multipacks of three, which is much cheaper than some other shops.
Like most larger Lidl’s there is a car park for the store, and there is a conveniently located bus stop right outside.

After living in Germany for a year and studying the language and culture for much longer, I have to admit, I am a huge fan of all things German and Lidl is no exception. Bargain prices for top quality products, it doesn’t get much better than that.
To be fair, Lidl isn’t as glamorous as other popular food stores and sometimes looks like it’s in need of a bit of TLC. What Lidl lacks in beauty it makes up for it with the quality of its products. My favourite time at Lidl is Weihnachten, when I can head down for a couple of piping hot bottles of Glühwein and some traditional gingerbread Lebkuchen. Mmm!
This particular store is always bustling and I’m pleased to see that Lidl has many more fans.

This little is now the main supermarket in Govanhill: taking over from the old Safeways, it is the first choice for the residents of Govanhill for the weekly shop (unless they belong to the car owning majority, who can pop over to Asda).
It is not the ideal basic supermarket: as always, the products are not always essentials and while I love finding the strange European specials, or rush when they have a new boatload of idiosyncratic consumer items, I have never seen Lidl as being a good place for a consistent shop. It is getting better, but I find its sudden appearance as a bad sign for the area: down in Shawlands, they got a Morrisons for Safeway, a far better range and more basic products at good prices, instead of the rather odd and random fun of Lidl. Still love the store, though: just wish there was a more sensible main supermarket within walking distance of Victoria Road.

As the years go by, shopping in Lidl is slowly losing it’s stigma, and people are beginning to realise that as well as a range of dubiously cheap produce, they also have a number of cracking buys that you can’t get anywhere else.
The German influence is apparent in much of the good stuff, with rostbratwurst, roll mop herrings and gluhwein making an appearance on the shelves. It’s in the confectionary however, where Lidl makes it’s mark as a true powerhouse of budget shopping. Their sweets are quite frankly outstanding, with loads and loads of variations of chocolate, Haribo, and these little chewy bars called «Fritt» that come mit vitamin c.
It still has an unusually quiet atmosphere and I get the impression the staff have to put up with military-​style working conditions, but I’m more than happy to turn a blind eye to the odd human rights violation if that’s what it takes to deliver Kinder choclolate at these prices.